


Amaryllis and Iris

by ljibee



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s), Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-16 15:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13057314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ljibee/pseuds/ljibee
Summary: A certain businesswoman was reborn into a world of battles, war, and child soldiers. Well, one thing's for sure, she certainly doesn't get any break.





	1. Liar and the Client

**Author's Note:**

> Fiction|Romance|Reincarnation|Female Protagonist|Fantasy|Fanfiction  
> (This story's also hosted at FF.net under the same title and the same username. Please check it out!)  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor its characters, Masashi Kishimoto does. I only own Arabella.

_"Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem."_

**Joseph Stalin**

* * *

"Thank you, if not for you I would never know that my love life would be so romantic!"

The fortune teller did her best to stop her urge to smile slyly. She watched the maiden exit the tent as she gathered her cards and pondered. She would need to wait for her last client before she packs up and go home. Massaging her stiff neck, she sighed as she thought about how hard it was to earn money these days. The grandchild, her daughter had left her might be starving right now, and as the child's grandmother, she can't help but feel a little guilty.

The old woman suddenly felt exhausted in a matter of seconds.

The high days of fortune telling were over; she can't help but recall when she was famous in her younger days. Those days where her wealthy days, where people rely on her for their fortune, the time where famous individuals placed the future of kingdoms on their shoulders. Musing for a long while, she had not noticed she was frozen in place and was staring into space.

The fortune teller heard shuffling at the entrance of the tent, and she raised her head to glance at the person who entered.

The old woman observed the client, she was wearing a long, free-flowing white dress that reached her ankles. The languid atmosphere she usually felt after someone entered the tent was gone, in its place was coldness, it resembled the temperature of the peak of a mountain. The fortune teller's eye showed mirth as she watched her woman client.

Evidently, she knew what this atmosphere means. This coldness indicated the woman had reached the peak, or maybe she thought she had. The old lady plastered a welcoming smile on her face, she's good at reading people, that was why she became a fortune teller.

Unknown to the public, fortune telling was not about tarot cards, crystal fortune telling nor hand reading. It was about knowing what the client's expected answer was. Telling other's luck was akin to explaining what they want to hear, if they know the problem was severe, then the fortune teller should tell them that they will be facing a great challenge. On the other hand, when they were expecting good fortune, and it was written all over their face, she should tell them that some good luck will befall them.

Reading faces shows it all.

A little shameless, the fortune teller perfectly knows it, but that was how she earns money. On the good side, at least she's not selling drugs and dragging unfortunate youths with her misery.

The client sat on the seat in front of the fortune teller. The old lady spoke, "Tarot cards, crystal or hand reading?"

Raising her head for the second time, the fortune teller watched as the woman replied, "Hand reading."

The woman's face was full indifference as if she could not be bothered by measly things. Her skin appeared dazzling under the dimly lit tent, the cold face of hers reminded the old woman of the fairies sculpted and showcased in theme parks. Now that she studied her client's face, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Sadly the old lady knows beauty is but a paltry desire.

The client offered her hand. The woman suddenly felt indescribable fear with her action. The fortune teller was hesitant to touch her hand, but she resolved her will as her wrinkly hands reached for hers. The old woman glanced at the woman's eyes and was amused to know that she cannot read anything.

The old lady smiled, the fear inside her disappeared. But deep inside her, a strange emotion was stirred. It had been hundreds of years since this sensation struck her.

"Client, all I know is that you hold your future. I especially wish you well."

The woman widened her eyes a little as she stared at the fortune teller, but before she replied, the old lady interrupted her. "You do not need to pay, Client. Treat this as your lucky day."

The fortune teller watched as her client nodded and the woman opposite her gracefully exited the tent.

Gathering all her things, the old lady prepared to leave as her eyes landed on the table. Raising one of her eyebrows, she saw a lone card above the printed tablecloth. The fortune teller slowly approached the table as the words written on the tarot card became clearer.

_Judgment._

Feeling weirdly satisfied, the old woman decided to find another job and quit fortune telling. She does not know, but sometimes, Gods love to play with other's cards.


	2. Up and About at Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's thank the people who followed and favorited this SI-OC. Of course, thank you SenorCheesecake and Proxy1980 for sharing your opinions and beta-reading the first chapter! This story's also hosted at fanfiction.net using the same title.

_"Real sign of intelligence isn't knowledge, it's imagination."_

**Albert Einstein**

* * *

_Kurosawa Ayame._

Now an orphan and living on the outskirts of Konohagakure. Living this life and owning the name Ayame, nothing had changed. I was part of the now non-existent Kurosawa Clan, a clan that had declined after the First Shinobi War. This particular clan was small compared to the Uchihas and Senjus during the Warring States Period — the period where dead bodies can be seen like clothes in shopping malls. Surviving this period was enough of an achievement, so no one was surprised when the Kurosawa Clan decided to free their members and live inside the villages.

One of those members who chose to live under the roof of the Leaf was my Grandfather, along with my parents, who were engaged back then. They had appeared to be an average couple with above-average looks, but there's was more to them than met the eye. Like any other clan, we had our rules and policies, and Kurosawa Clan once promoted marrying one's own bloodline to preserve their well-known asset.

_Beauty._

Father and Mother were siblings, not a surprise after I learned that my Clan chose to marry someone with their own bloodline. I deeply thought about it, and I am not that astonished that our numbers slowly decreased. As a Kurosawa, I am glad to have no problems genetically, having some limbs missing is inconvenient after all. There's bound to be a problem in the genes with how they manage marriage.

Based on what Mother told me when I was an infant, Kurosawa Clan deals with seduction, spying, and assassination. A fact that was never a wonder, in tactical battles you could only use someone's beauty as such. Surprisingly, Mother was also adept at carrying assassination and was drafted to  _Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (ANBU)_  along with my father who specializes in seduction, a truly weird combination.

Knowing that they are ANBU did not actually provide me all the information I needed after I was born, it was those three sculpted faces on the mountain that revealed where I was located. The mountain was like Mount Rushmore, since the faces were sculpted skillfully. The owner of the first face was Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage. The owner of the second face was Senju Tobirama, Hashirama's brother and the Second Hokage. The owner of the third and last face was Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tobirama's student.

Lo and behold, I was in the story I had watched and faithfully read,  **Naruto**.

A story about a blond —  _overpowered_  — protagonist who loves to wear orange jumpsuits. In a nutshell, the main character practically defeated every antagonist and at the same time, found and fought his best friend, one of the villains.

It was part of my job to know what kind of entertainments 'in' and what kinds were 'out'. I stumbled upon Japanese entertainment by chance, where anime is really popular. Of course, with my curiosity, I decided to watch a few famous animes. My interest was piqued after watching Naruto, that I even read its manga. It was a short break from all the exhaustion that piled up while I was working. It was a small prize for my hard work.

In the canon, in the first part, four faces were sculpted on the mountain. The owner of the missing face was Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Naruto's father. Just by looking at the face I immediately determined at what part of the timeline I was. Certainly, I was born before Minato became the Hokage; a part that was not that discussed in canon.

At the age of two and a half, both of my parents died in a mission. Others might think that being a Jonin means you are powerful enough to protect yourself. Apparently, the idea is far from being true. I do not know the specifics of my parent's death, but I know they were killed by some Iwa-nin on the borders. The management of the orphanage did not tell me the whole story since, from what I see, they do not have the information themselves. They were probably killed in action as ANBU, so even their bodies did not return.

I was inside the office of the shelter when they had delivered the news: Both of my parents died and their bodies were not retrieved. At that time, I did not know what to feel for they were not exactly my real parents, but the memories I experienced with them was still extremely vivid. After my rebirth, I knew everybody has to die at some point — but that did not stop me from mourning their passing.

In my previous life, I was a businesswoman who almost worked herself to death (Scratch that, _I worked myself to death_ ). I did everything I could do to make my business flourish, from personally visiting other companies to staying up all night, I had experienced it all. Unluckily by the age of 38, I obtained cancer of the blood most commonly known as Leukemia. I exhausted all my savings from the treatments and in the end, died because of the disease.

I didn't have a family and never decided to make one, so no one was there to mourn except for a few friends and my foster parents. I was in the prime of my youth where I dreamt high. I was only focused on my goals and dedicated my whole heart to it. Maybe it's because of my past that's why I have a distorted sense of 'family'. I was an infant when my biological mother left me to die in the sewers and a couple, who then and there, decided to adopt me when they passed by.

I was raised in a middle-class household and was educated, and my parents did not hide the fact that I was not their own. Nonetheless, I treated mom and dad as my family but the invisible wall that was separating us couldn't be more obvious. I rarely talked at home but in return, I excelled in my studies. After college, I paid what I owed to my dad and mom who, by that time, decided to retire.

I was at the peak of my profession at the age of 38; business was booming. I managed an entertainment company where everybody was at each other's throat and the media couldn't stop gossiping. It was a difficult ordeal, handling talents and fighting other entertainment companies at the same time it was an experience I do not want to repeat. Moreover, the mouth of the masses was a thing that was hard to stop and it became much worse when social media became a trend.

_It seems the fortune teller had lied_. My future was perfectly laid out, it was like a tv drama where all I need to do every time was to act pitiable.

I pursed my lips and focused on what I am doing since currently, I am deep inside the woods. Dangers lurked everywhere and if my mind wandered even just for a little bit, my life would be in peril.

Closing my eyes for a bit as I inhaled slowly, I can feel a familiar sensation under my stomach. I guided it through the various tenketsu on my body until it reached my hand where it gradually produced a physical form. My eyes narrowed as I see the familiar purple ball of energy.

_Chakra._

Chakra is a form of energy that exists in all human beings, of course, it only applies in the Naruto universe. It is produced by chakra coils which are located near the dantian, under the stomach. Chakra can be formed when two types of energy are molded together. Those two specifically are spiritual and physical energy. Based on what I recall,  _spiritual_  is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be amplified in the course of continuous studying, meditation, and experience. Since I have the memories of my past life, the spiritual part was easy.

_Physical energy_ , on the other hand, is gathered from each and every one of the body's cells and can be improved through training, stimulants, and exercise. This is where the problem lies, right now I am three-years-old. The exercises that I should take should be the ones that will not hinder my current body's growth. Lifting weights or putting them on my waist and arms are out of the question, however, the hidden weights on my feet will do.

I successfully produced chakra two months ago, an achievement I deliberately kept hidden from the watchful eyes of the orphan's designated caretakers. Now I am outside the orphanage, running around the forest to increase my stamina and promote my growth. I carefully tied my purple hair in a bun while the loose clothes, I stole from one of the caretakers, were used as a change while I train. Those adult's security is quite lax, that is the reason why I can run around the woods.

Adjusting the cloth that covered my face, my breathing became ragged as I increased my speed. Mother specifically instructed me to cover my face at all times; she told me it is to prevent the slavers from harboring bad intentions on my small body. Leaving such instructions for a two-year-old, I do not know if she knew what she was doing or maybe it was just on a whim. But I promised myself to follow my mother's wishes; she was right after all.

Slowing down a little and halting my footsteps after I raised my eyes to stare at the full moon. Namikaze Minato is still not famous, I realized after asking a few adults, and the Third Shinobi War appeared to be a little distant after finding out the situation. The leaves rustled as the wind blew, my hair fluttered while my gaze landed in front of me.  _'I should go home.'_  I thought, realizing they might discover my missing presence in our sleeping quarters.

I have yet to see the other characters in this shounen anime, after all I am quite far from the center of Konoha. Thankfully, I could entertain myself by training my body and by watching clashes among little children. To be frank, I was well received in the orphanage, it's just that talking to others meant opening my mouth; so I do not try to create social interactions. I was at the age of three and yet I struggled to speak Japanese unlike my peers. I could only manage a few words when speaking to myself loudly, much more conversing to others. I place the blame on how a child's body develop and my over-occupied brain.

Since I was used to speaking and talking in English, learning to speak in Japanese in the span of three years with only the basics was hard.

I was always inside the shelter's library that only contained children's book. I was lucky I had read many books in my past life, so my sanity was still intact and never deteriorated in that of a child's. On the positive side, reading books for children helped me improve my Japanese.

Huffing and scraping the mud off my slippers on the stairs, that only had two steps, I quietly entered the orphanage. The quiet hallway greeted me after I passed through the door, not even bothering on using my stealth skills, I made my way to my room. After entering, four children were already there, two of them were loudly snoring while I could not be troubled by the other two.

I sat in the corner while I contemplated, the children at the orphanage will be sent to the Konohagakure Academy after reaching the age six, where they will train talents to become a ninja. While looking at the old walls decorated with mismatched wallpapers, I smirked as I mentally praised the higher ups of the Leaf on how skilled they are at brainwashing talents. Children can be easily controlled, after all making them believe that the will of fire burns in all of us is a piece of cake. And that's only the first step on making cold-blooded killers, to make them believe that it is alright killing people that do not share the same interests with you.

The second step was easy to predict, it is to train them of course. It was like the entertainment industry, where you scout and filter talents. As a veteran, just by seeing their skills and talking to them once, I knew who would rise to fame and who would be in the headlines of a tabloid because of a scandal. I had encountered all sorts of people, you need keen eyes to see who has good intentions or not.

Subsequently, those who do not have an aptitude to be a ninja were advised to study in a commoner's school. They will learn math, science, literature and etcetera. From then on orphans will live a normal life, create a family then die peacefully. Unlike those orphans who successfully became Genins, some of them died after getting killed on their first C-rank mission from what I've heard.

The days continued, my everyday routine is to run in the morning and practice stances, katas, and forms. Then I will eat lunch and will stay inside the library for a while until dinner, after eating I would wait for the people to sleep and I will jog, practice stances, katas, and forms. After eight months inside the orphanage, I could say that I am satisfied with my improvement.

I am observant and watched my shinobi parents train outside. They usually place me near them and was allowed to roam freely when I could crawl because, from what they said, I was obedient. It was not hard on my part seeing as they deliberately slowed down their movement for me to see. Maybe they think I was entertained so they did that on purpose.

Perhaps they had a different reason, _but only god knew_.

On the topic of learning how to control chakra, I am progressing quite fast in my opinion. In any case, I do not have anyone to compare my skills with so accurately gauging it is not possible. By chance, while I was in an infancy state and could move about, I stumbled into our house's secret passage where an astonishing number of scrolls were hidden. Medical information was written in all of them, and it had taken me months to understand it. It was of no big deal given that when I was managing my business, I needed to comprehend a folder full of numbers at once. Missing a single digit could be the end of my company so I was a quick thinker. Being pressured is a part of my life, I was used to cramming information in my brain ever since I stepped into college.

Gaining understanding in medicine was not that hard this time since I had read some medical books in my past life. But the consequences had shown its face just after I crammed the knowledge in my brain, my small body decided to shut down and sleep continuously for hours. On the contrary, my parents were not that fond of me sleeping all day, though it is the only way to understand those scrolls rapidly. As a punishment I was forced to interact with my neighbors after that. Fortunately, my vocal chords were not that competent yet and I could only gurgle words, greeting other people was even more impossible.

"Ayame-chaaaaan!"

I had the urge to hide in a matter of second as a brown haired boy came running my way, his large eyes formed slits because he was grinning stupidly. Since his height that did not exceed a meter, I was unexpectedly towered by his figure after he stopped before me. The boy's hand was constantly waving in front of my face as if I could not see him enough.

I rolled my eyes while I observed his dirtied face, dust and soil covered his clothes while he gave me a beaming smile. I studied the place I happen to end up with, I tried to find a clean seat where I could rest. I saw a stone bench at the corner of my sight, no one was bothered to use it since children do not like sitting —  _they love to play around_.

The boy followed me like a puppy as I began to onto the stone bench, suddenly, two hands appeared on my waist supporting my body. It lifted me and I successfully sat atop the seat. I murmured a ' _thank you_ ' and exhaled.

My lips formed a line as I glance at the boy. "Toshiyuki-kun?" I replied coldly.

Despite my desire to call him by his surname, I cannot do it since he was found in a dark alley and did not know who his parents were. It was an ordinary scenario for the orphanage; for most of the children do not have family names. The first time I arrived here, Toshiyuki was the one who welcomed me with enthusiasm. The other children were also enthusiastic but did not dare to approach a newcomer who's suspiciously wearing a cloth over her face.

"Ano…" Toshiyuki trailed off while scratching the back of his head, his messy hair swayed as he raised his head in an instant after looking down for so long. "Why don't you play with us?"

"Grateful for the offer—" I said with my limited vocabulary as I crossed my arms and continued, his eyes sparkled with hope, "—but  _no_."

Toshiyuki's hope was extinguished in an instant before he tried to negotiate with me. "But you haven't played with us since you came here, Ayame-chan!"

All he said was the truth, I've never tried to talk to anyone nor play with anyone. Being 38 years old in this totally unfamiliar world was already hard enough. Forcing me to converse with children is raising the difficulty by another notch. Sighing deep inside, I tried to talk my way out of it.

"Toshiyuki-kun. I cannot, please." My words were short but they delivered my thoughts fairly well.

I jumped off the bench and walked away from him, and despite my expectations, the boy did not follow me and instead continued to watch me from a distance. Toshiyuki is already five years old, next school year, the staff will recommend him to attend the Academy and train to be a ninja. It's a logical decision, for he has the right qualifications. Though, I worry he won't survive being kind hearted and all.

_'I need to go to the Academy as soon as possible.'_  I pondered as I found myself entering the forest again. ' _I need to know the situation immediately. Only then I can plan and control things_.'

* * *

Respectfully bowing and guiding the man wearing a customary hat and haori with a red, full-length kimono that was tied with a white sash, the caretaker could not help but feel a little nervous even though it was not their first time meeting. The pipe the man was holding in front of him would release smoke once in awhile.

"Welcome, Hokage-sama." The caretaker respectfully bowed, his smile was a little tight for he did not know what reason why the Hokage had arrived unexpectedly. Beside the Hokage were two Jonins wearing flak jackets, their aura was imposing making the caretaker have a sudden urge to bow down and worship.

The Jonin woman beside the Hokage glanced at the caretaker which caused him to shiver, while the other was man with striking silver hair who smiled warmly at him. Narrowing his eyes for a while, he felt that the silver-haired man was familiar.

_'Isn't he the famous Konoha's White Fang?!'_  The caretaker widened his eyes and forced himself to calm down. ' _Hatake Sakumo is here! I must ask for his signature after this!_ ' He thought forgetting the one the White Fang is guarding has a higher military achievement.

The man tried his best to think of a reason for the appearance of the person who had the highest position in Leaf Village. Thinking hard, he thought that the last action they did that could probably attract the attention of the Hokage was the application forms they recently sent. They had just given the application of the orphans who are qualified to enter the Academy, one of them was the four-year-old Kurosawa Ayame, a genius they had never seen before. At the age of four, even though a child needed to be five or six years old to enter, they took a gamble and added her on the list. In any case, she acts as if she was already an adult so age did not matter.

The girl performed brilliantly and stays inside the orphanage's library on most days. The only negative side with her brilliance was how she refused to talk as well as join the other children. The nuns and caretakers inside the orphanage were starting to worry about the child. This kind of attitude will not gain her any friend and it might not take very long before she became a social outcast.

Ayame, in a nutshell, is popular among the adults in the orphanage. She followed the rules and was always calm, she never got into any kinds of fight and was always respectful. The staff was fond of her, she was easy to talk to. The only problem with her was that she was too young and cannot deliver her thoughts clearly. Her words were often composed of short three-word sentences when she needs to say something long. In any case, she could fluently speak the basics.

He debated if the girl was shy because she could not communicate or maybe there was another reason. ' _Maybe she prefers to talk to older people_.' The man concluded.

"Do not be nervous, I am only here to check on the children," the Hokage smiled as wrinkles appeared beside his eyes.

With the Hokage's reply, the caretaker breathed a sigh of relief. He guided the Hokage to the other side of the orphanage, where the children loved to gather after lunch time. The orphans were happily playing outside, some were full of dirt while others were rolling on the ground. But there is a child who stood out from the crowd. A girl with long purple hair was standing apart from the group of children.

The caretaker saw the Hokage's eye narrow while the White Fang, who was beside him, followed his gaze. The other Jonin remained indifferent and continued to observe the place. The Hokage moved forward as the caretaker nervously followed. He does not know what the Hokage wants, but he hoped he was just really visiting. After all, they were treating these children justly.

It's not the first time the Hokage visited but even them, the commoners, can feel the man's powerful strength just by standing beside him. The Hokage must be very busy, but he still visited the orphanage on the outskirts of Konoha. ' _Maybe he needs something_.' The caretaker mused.

The purple haired child saw them approaching. The caretaker secretly signaled her some hand signs and the child responded by having a flicker in her eyes. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief, it would be a large problem if the child showed misconduct because she does not know the man before her. Not that they have a problem handling her because she's a good child, on the contrary, she would be the least likely to cause mischief.

"Can I help you?" The man nodded, satisfied about the girl's respectful voice.

He cleared his throat to attract the attention of the guests and introduced the two parties. "Hokage-sama, this is one of our orphans," he said a little too stiffly that made his face turn red.  _"Ayame-chan, quick! Introduce yourself!"_  The caretaker whispered, and the child only blinked twice.

He thought that maybe he startled her and felt guilty for scaring the child.

Ayame, after careful deliberation faced the guests and spoke, "Good afternoon, my name is Kurosawa Ayame."


	3. Circumstances and Adoption

_"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."_

**Aristotle**

* * *

Hatake Sakumo waited for Hiruzen to finish signing documents before he dared to ask a question. There were many things that bothered him. Earlier, they checked the seal's condition and traveled to Konoha's outskirts for the Hokage to personally see its state. They also visited the orphanage in passing, where Hiruzen exhibited an unusual attitude. The Hokage appeared to be interested in a particular child who was the same age as his Kakashi.

Closing a few folders, Hiruzen finally turned his attention to the standing silver-haired Jōnin before him. "Do you want to ask anything?"

"Are you interested in the girl?" Sakumo could not help but ask. He was good at judging people, and from what he saw, the child with the purple hair would be someone who would greatly contribute to Konoha in the future.

As a reply, the Hokage smiled, the lines beside his eyes started to become apparent. "She reminded me of someone," he said and dismissed the White Fang.

The Hokage's eyes drifted to the worn out walls. His figure appeared like a lone shadow inside a room abundant in light. Hiruzen leaned in his chair and removed his customary red hat. The silver-haired Jōnin instantly understood that he should not inquire anymore.

Sakumo departed, not bothering to look back on the Hokage's office. He slowly walked down the stairs and contemplated. The child must be a Kurosawa, but he couldn't exactly tell because of the cloth covering everything below her eyes. A year and a half ago his team had been sent to an Iwagakure for an assassination. As luck would have it, the Hokage placed Sakumo on the same team with the Kurosawa couple. On the way back they did not notice they were followed and the Iwa-nin intercepted them after they entered the borders.

They were not exactly in the best state; each one of them had suffered an injury while inside enemy territory. The Kurosawa couple were quick to make a decision and sacrificed their lives for the sake of others – an action that made Sakumo admire their courage. In truth, he was guilty. He was their team leader and was entrusted with the lives of his members, and he could not do anything for the pair. Even their dead bodies were left in a rush to send their members to the hospital.

If possible, he wanted to help their child to repay the couple's kindness.

Sighing in lamentation, the White Fang adjusted his forehead protector and proceeded to where his son was playing. He was absent for many days, and Kakashi must feel lonely without his father to accompany him. Kakashi's mother died when he was very young. Now he was the only family Kakashi have, and he would do his best to care for the child.

Arriving where Kakashi was, the silver-haired Jōnin saw a group of children playing ninja. Most of them were running around and laughing hard while the minority were huffing and puffing due to tiredness. There was dust everywhere, and Sakumo had to blink several times to clearly see his surroundings. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see a familiar silver fluff that was standing not that far from the noisy crowd. The Jōnin slowly made his way over as the figure of a child wearing a mask became clearer.

"Otou-san," the boy greeted him, eyes shining. His hair was a mess and was sticking everywhere. Sakumo ruffled his silver hair further and smiled.

"Everything good?" he asked while he studied his child.

Kakashi was not even five yet, but his mind was advancing by leaps and bounds. Maybe it was because he idolized his father that he strived to be the best, but Sakumo could never really tell. People had even called him a genius for he always did things impossible for his age. For example, he had just given Kakashi the shinobi manual on a whim, to give him something to think about. In a matter of days, the boy started to recite passages from the book and would lecture other children.

For the first time in his life, the White Fang was dumbfounded. And it was because of his son.

Kakashi nodded eagerly, his silver hair swaying back and forth unhindered. "Nami-san made Hiro-kun accompany me outside to play," he replied, recalling what happened previously.

Being a Jōnin and an ANBU, Hatake Sakumo could not watch over his child 24/7 so he decided to entrust his child to his wife's best friend, Yamamoto Nami. Every time he would leave Konohagure for his missions he would request for Nami to take care of his Kakashi temporarily. And seeing Kakashi as her own son, Nami did it willingly.

As the White Fang, the demand for his appearance was higher than before the Second Shinobi World War. Many had started to hire him for missions outside of the village, even he, the White Fang, was not exempt from being recruited to do menial tasks from delivering packages to cleaning houses. The masses must not have understood that Genins were the one needed to those duties and Jōnin s were required to do A-rank missions.

Kakashi had probably seen that he was deep in thought so he decided not to bother his father for a while. When Sakumo gathered his bearings, his child was sitting on the dirt, watching his peers play. An image flashed before his eyes, a familiar purple-haired child was standing alone under the tree, apart from the crowd of screaming children. The White Fang slowly shook his head to clear the image and thought that he should've requested the Hokage for the rights to take care of the Kurosawa child. It might not be a problem since from what he recalled, Kurosawas were like the Hatakes: a clan which slowly declined because of the incessant wars.

No one could bother to take care of the orphaned child.

Placing both his hands in his pocket, Sakumo smiled down at Kakashi. "Let's go home."

* * *

Ayame glanced at the title of the book she was holding and threw it behind her. She could not be concerned with those  _bijuu_  stories anymore. Most of the children's books inside the shelter's library were about the  _Rikudō Sennin_ , most commonly known as The Sage of the Six Paths. The people held great importance to the Rikudō Sennin since he was the one who founded the  **Ninshū**  or the Shinobi Sect. It started the era of shinobi and chakra, clans and wars, and finally, life and death.

The girl merely snorted. It was a given that when there was power, there would people who would want to covet it. After all, greed was part of the human nature; without it, it would be like stripping the humanity of its skin. Ayame raised her head to look at the higher part of the shelves. She guessed there was bound to be an interesting book out of this pile of children's stories. If she guessed wrong, then she would have to deal with her boredom another way.

The orphanage's library was neither small nor large. Its room contained rows of bookshelves where books and hand-outs of different sizes could be seen. The ceiling of the library was not that high. In Ayame's estimation, a man with the height of 5'5 could probably raise his hand and touched the ceiling without standing on his heel. The walls were rundown and the condition of their sleeping quarters was the same. The girl could not help but disagree with the children's circumstances; they would have a distorted sense of being 'well-off ' and it might affect their future accomplishments.

Ayame grabbed a chair and placed it in front of the third shelf. She stood on it and tried to reach for the row of books near the top of the bookshelf. Failing to touch the books, the girl was not disheartened. Instead, she was prepared to use her chakra to climb on the shelf to reach the top slowly. She guided her chakra to her hands, like how she did when she was practicing in the woods.

Ayame practiced her chakra control by tree climbing. It took her a while before she could do it but she succeeded nonetheless. The chakra in her hand pulsated, and she adjusted the amount. Too much chakra would repel her from the shelf and too little would make her fall. Even if the shelves were too high for her, Ayame would still take her chances,

"Ayame-chan? What are you doing?" A voice interrupted her from her thoughts. When she turned her head to take a look, she saw a brown-haired boy.

The girl regretted not getting the book at atop the shelf sooner. Now she would need to deal with the persistent child. "I was trying to get the book, third row. You need anything Toshiyuki-kun?" she replied casually, her eyes gaze at the boy's hand.

He was holding a parcel, tied with brown string. Toshiyuki noticed her eyes on the package and replied with a smile, "Ah, I would like to give this to you since I'm leaving for the Academy tomorrow." His eyes were filled with sadness, and Ayame wondered why. She and Toshiyuki did not have many interactions, and even if there was one, she would try to find an excuse to leave.

Jumping off the chair, she ran her hand through her purple hair and faced the boy. "Thank you, Toshiyuki-kun—" the boy blushed which made Ayame cringe in discomfort, "—but the truth, you don't have to do this."

Toshiyuki blinked, not absorbing the meaning of her words. "Why?"

"Going to the Academy with you tomorrow," she answered and turned her heels. Ayame's eye landed on the pile of books in between the two bookshelves. Thinking back on how she haphazardly threw every book behind her, she realized she needed to clean them later. She better return those books to their proper places before created another pile.

"With us? Tomorrow?" Toshiyuki was in a daze. His mind halted working, and his eyes blankly gaze in space.

Ayame knew what he was thinking about. Konohagakure strictly abided its rules; they would never sit idle over someone unlawful. However, exceptions were a given. Hatake Kakashi was hailed as a genius: he entered the academy at the age of four and graduated at the age of five. She was a similar case. The staff in the orphanage probably threw countless praises that made the administration consider her. Finally, she could enter the Academy at only four years old.

As a former businesswoman, it was relatively easy to be on the good side of the caretakers and the nuns in the shelter. She was used to negotiating and using fancy words. Those skills were needed to survive in the industry. She was so accustomed to doing it that it was like breathing.

Grabbing another book from the shelves, Ayame looked at its title. Seeing the words  _"Tales of the Nine Bijuu,"_  she was ready to throw it behind her when a loud booming voice echoed inside the room. She saw Toshiyuki trembled and fell weakly on the floor, his eyes no longer blank. Ayame faintly raised her eyebrow when the voice incessantly called someone's name.

"TOSHIYUKI-KUUUUN! TOSHIYUKI-KUN! ANIKI NEEDS YOUR HEEEELP!"

The boy on the floor scrambled to get the package on the floor before he stood up and hastily left the room. Ayame shifted her gaze back on the book and shoved it behind her. She heard a loud thud as another book joined the pile. Unexpectedly, dust scattered around the room and she was forced to cover her nose with the back of her hand.

Cursing for a moment, she was about to jump down to organize the mountain of children's book on the dirty floor when she heard another shout.

"AYAME-CHAAAAAAN! AYAME-CHAAN! ANIKI ALSO WANTS TO SEE YOUUU!"

Ayame pursed her lips and realized how troublesome the voice was. She was about to clean, and now it was disrupted. The owner of the loud voice was Ryo, a ten-year-old boy. She heard he was supposed to be sent to the central of Konoha three years ago but declined because he wanted to help this  _Aniki_ , a praiseworthy figure inside the orphanage. In her opinion, she disagreed with how these people admired  _Aniki_. They told her he was a kind and gentle man with good prospects.

Aniki's actual name was Seiji - an orphan who was sent to a civilian's school and graduated there. For some reason, he went back to the orphanage to serve with the excuse of trying to pay back the goodwill of the staff. Ayame could not care less, but the disappearance of the children once in a while bothered her. Once Seiji cornered a child, the next day that particular child would disappear. In addition to that, he was very careful with his movements so that none of the adults noticed anything amiss.

As for the disappearance of the children, Seiji told them that they had probably run away from the shelter.

Ayame knew a liar when she saw one. She dropped the idea of organizing the books and temporarily noted the chore in mind. She would have to clean the book tonight or else she would surely leave a bad impression on the staff of the orphanage. The child headed straight to where she remembered Seiji often stayed. The hallways were oddly quiet. The only child she bumped into was the loud-mouthed Ryo.

It did not take long for her to arrive in front of a wooden door. She carefully pushed it open. The inside was the same as it was the last time she was called. Bookshelves were placed in every corner of the medium-sized room. There was a table in the middle of the room and a chair behind it. Lastly, two chairs were placed in front of the table.

A man aged 24 was seated behind the desk. His hair was skilfully combed back but his most prominent feature was his cheekbones. He glanced at the girl who entered his office and pleasantly smiled. Ayame only gave him a glance before she proceeded to sit on the wooden chair.

"Ayame-chan, I've heard they recommended you to the Academy along with Toshiyuki-kun this year." Seiji's tone was amiable as he continued to smile in front of the girl. "But you know you're too young. Don't you want to stay in the orphanage and play for a little longer?"

She could not help but slightly furrow her eyebrows. She immediately cleared her facial expression. Seiji didn't notice any difference, so he continued to speak. "You need to understand the Academy is a harsh place. You should tell the other staff that you're not ready yet!"

Seiji was so focused on his speech that he did not notice the mirth in the girl's eyes. Ayame patiently waited for him to finish. Her gaze travelled around the room and landed on the bookshelf in the right corner. She squinted her eyes to read the titles of the books and realized most of them were for shinobis. The girl suddenly regretted not sneaking inside the room and seizing some books for herself.

"—consider the situation, child."

Ayame frowned absentmindedly at the person before her. The man unconsciously flinched under her stare and avoided her eyes. She leaned back on the chair to study the man carefully. Her eyes widened in amusement as she remembered her co-worker's words,  _"You can see in other's eyes if they harbor ill intentions."_

They were talking about sealing some business deals and had accidentally strayed off the topic, ending up discussing about people with malicious intents instead. Ayame had to give her secretary some credit – not all people could read someone just by looking at their eyes. There was only one major flaw in the statement though. Some individuals have the ability to con people without batting an eyelash. It was their natural talent; even if you try to look in their eyes you would see nothing.

On the other hand, the person before her was far from having that talent.

"Thank you, Aniki, but Hokage- _sama_  visited the orphanage," she replied with a small smile. Even with her lack of vocabulary she tried to express her opinions using short sentences about the matter at hand. "Told me he looked forward to seeing young talents like me. Could not disappoint him."

_A complete lie._

Hiruzen never mentioned anything about looking forward to it. That day, she believed the Hokage was just passing by and her weird attitude piqued his curiosity. After she had asked what they needed, the old man only smiled and nodded. He proceeded to visit the other groups of children. After the short visit, he immediately departed with the two Jōnin s – one of which was Hatake Sakumo, a person she recognized right after seeing the silver hair.

The conversation ended after she spoke. Seiji dismissed her, his forehead crinkled obviously as she glanced at him for the last time. Anyone would feel guilty after using the Hokage's name like that, but Ayame was not concerned. From her point of view, she only borrowed his name for a little while. The penalty should not be harsh for a child.

Night descended and thoughts about the White Fang occupied Ayame's mind. The man was still alive. However, it might not be long before he dies. There were still no rumours about him failing a mission, and people still valued him as their hero.

She did not dare to train outside for the meantime. She did not want to take her chance and be seen the day before her departure.

* * *

"You should take the room beside Kakashi's." The silver-haired Jōnin ushered her while he removed his shoes on the front door. Ayame felt things had turned out weirdly.

She never expected to be adopted by the White Fang.

Footsteps echoed inside the quiet traditional Japanese-styled house. The questions that were occupying her mind earlier were answered in an instant. Ayame was wondering why Seiji did not pursue the matter about her prolonging her stay in the orphanage. Now that she knew of the situation, the solution was simple after all.

The staff instructed the orphans earlier that morning to prepare their things. After departing, Ayame realized that they were not bringing her to an apartment along with the other children. Children who reached the age of six would be brought in their own respective apartments — a place where they would live while they were studying at the Academy.

Instead, she was brought here. Hatake Sakumo, whom she first saw in the shelter, made a sudden appearance and welcomed her with enthusiasm. After the staff that were meant to accompany left, the silver-haired Jōnin told her everything that she needed to know.

Hatake Sakumo had decided to adopt her. Ayame was surprised at the unexpected revelation.

The White Fang, from what he told her, was one of her parent's friends. Contrary to Ayame's belief, both of her parents were well-acquainted with almost half of the Jōnin population. She expected the both of them to be more of the silent type since they rarely spoke when they were with her. The couple spent their time drinking tea and enjoying the silence when they were alive.

Sakumo could not tell her about the details of their ANBU mission; the only thing that he could share was that the two Kurosawas had saved his life. As expected, they were killed by Iwa-nin on the borders and sacrificed themselves to save the group. Ayame decided to stay silent even after the Jōnin narrated his story. She was a little disorientated after hearing the piece of information and recovered right after.

Ayame, knowing why Seiji did not dare to persuade her, understood that Sakumo saved her this time even if he was not aware.

If the Jōnin did not adopt her, Seiji would take drastic measures to make her stay inside the shelter. Ayame still had no idea about his motives, but she started to suspect something. The girl narrowed her eyes and decided to throw the matter to the back of her mind.

On the other hand, adopting her was no small matter. With the identity of Hatake Sakumo being the White Fang and her being the sole Kurosawa in the Leaf, she wondered how the silver-haired man pulled it off.

From what she remembered, a famous figure like the White Fang needed to inform the Hokage of his every decision. Every movement should be reported since Sakumo was part of ANBU – a team leader of an ANBU group at that. Ayame had thought it was invasion of the other party's privacy, but considering the state of Konoha after the Second Shinobi World War, each shinobi should be open to each other or else one would be suspected of being a spy.

That means the Hokage had approved Sakumo's request of adopting her with the condition that she would retain her family name. Ayame glanced around the house, her eyes darting from the ceiling to the walls. The erected wooden columns on top of a flat foundation greatly piqued her curiosity. It gave some sort of elegance she had only seen on television in the past. In her previous life, she had traveled all over the world because of her business and had stayed in some hotels that were styled similarly to the house.

Ayame was glad to live inside a genuine traditional house.

The girl glanced back at the figure before her. The White Fang was dressed in a standard Konoha-nin uniform with a pair of gloves. The Jōnin flak jacket and the bandages on his right arm were conspicuous with the addition of the distinctive short white sleeve which had red edges and the standard crest of Uzushiogakure on it. The spiky silver hair added charm to his persona which made Ayame nod in satisfaction.

She could not deny that this man had an aura of a hero.

While deep in thought, Ayame heard soft footsteps coming their way. Without hesitation, she raised her head and found a carbon copy of Sakumo albeit the copy was much smaller. The boy had the same striking silver hair as his counterpart and was wearing a mask that covers the lower part of his face. A green scarf was encircled on his neck while his black top and black pants made Ayame doubt the boy's fashion sense.

The boy nodded as a greeting and immediately removed his gray eyes from studying her. Ayame noticed his gaze and concluded that it must have been because of the cloth covering half of her face. She did not want to overthink it, but she and the boy appeared to be  _chuunibyous_ at first glance. With desperation, she tried to stop herself from grinning ridiculously but failed. Luckily a cloth was covering her face or the pair of father and son would think she was insane.

Sakumo directed an awkward smile to her, and she instantly understood that he was apologetic at his son's behaviour. "Ayame-chan, this is Kakashi, my son," he introduced, glancing at his mini version beside him. "Kakashi, this is your new sibling: Kurosawa Ayame."

Ayame felt rather awkward at the exchange (or if it was an exchange at all, since Sakumo was the only one talking) but nodded as a reply. Consequently, after everything was said and done, Sakumo showed her the room where she would stay. The room was spacious, and the floor was made of tatami mats that accentuated the thin door. The door, a room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood, was called shoji, if her memory served her right.

A thick mattress was cleanly placed on the floor along with a couple of white fluffy pillows. She put her small baggage on the side and stood there for a long time to admire the spotless room. Ayame sympathized with the two silver-haired individuals. They had learned to do the chores on their own since Sakumo's wife died when Kakashi was young. The girl doubted the White Fang had relatives that would help him take care of his child since from what she recalled; Kakashi became an orphan after his death.


	4. Chores and Rivalry

_"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."_  
**Plato**

* * *

When  _the_ Hatake Sakumo told her he was going to Konohagakure's administration and take care of her adoption papers, she did not expect that he would take care of it all. Ayame was no idiot. She was perfectly aware of how hard it was to compile documents. Given that the child Sakumo adopted was a total stranger and her personal documents were scattered everywhere, he still managed to finish all this desk work in a  _single_  day.

In her opinion, she could also pull that off –  _without sleeping that is._

Drying the dishes with a cloth, Ayame realized she had forgotten to hang the washing outside. The girl wiped the bubbles off her hands on the apron she made two days ago, after failing to find one. She found it a little out-of-habit doing house chores. After all, she had obtained an unbelievable kind of luxury after she became rich. Maids would come with the snap of her fingers, they would bow in her presence and people could not help but fawn over her.

The four-year-old girl touched the cloth covering the half of her face out of habit.

Ayame dimly recalled that the last time she did her laundry was in her university years. It was hard since she needed to balance her studies, house chores, and reading. Studies and reading were different, given that she was not fond of reading textbooks for entertainment. But it was different when some ' _educational_ ' knowledge piqued her interest.

"Ayame-chan?"

A head appeared at the door. She glanced at the new presence, full of interest. The White Fang's spiky silver hair defied gravity while his dark eyes darted from the sink to her indifferent masked face. An expression flashed across his features then it was gone in an instant.

The silver-haired Jōnin scratched his head. "Do you want to join us, Ayame-chan? Kakashi and I will be sparring at the back." The tiredness in his eyes was visible and the girl could see that the man was too pale to be healthy.

The school year at the Academy would be starting in three months. Ayame had time to spare so she agreed with Sakumo's invitation.

The orphanage sent off its children a little too early. The girl guessed that maybe they wanted to get rid of kids faster to lessen the burden. From what she heard, the budget in the shelter was getting tighter and tighter by the day. Seeing as the village's budget was getting smaller, they would surely lessen the funds for institutions that could not contribute to the war so that they could maintain the finances in the military.

Sakumo left after seeing the girl nod slowly. Ayame detached her gaze on the door and continued with her chores. She needed to finish the laundry before the silver-haired Jōnin could stop her. He may not mind her doing the dishes but Ayame was sure the man would disagree with her washing their clothes.

To be sure, she didn't dare touch Hatake Sakumo's Jōnin uniform and only washed his daily garments and Kakashi's. Frankly, she was having a hard time doing the laundry because she was used to washing machines. With her small hands, she barely managed to clean her own outfits but thankfully, the two boys did not change clothes that much.

 _That_  made her wonder.

Ayame had been living with them for almost a week but she never saw the Hatakes wash their clothes. From what she saw in the laundry basket, the clothing would only last for two days at the least and three days at most. She was deeply troubled; the case of the missing outer garments had been bugging her since morning.

The girl shrugged. She would think it over after she watched the spar between the father and child.

It simply took her a day's time to memorize the Hatake's traditional Japanese home so when Sakumo vaguely told her that they would be sparring 'at the back' she knew where to go without anyone guiding her. It was her first time being invited to watch the pair train. She did not try to include herself in their training; Ayame did not want to intrude on their moment knowing the jōnin was barely home.

The training ground that the jōnin indistinctly described was an open space on the far side of the house. Beside it was a locked shed which Ayame deduced to have weapons and other equipment. She had the urge to open it once but then realized the consequences would be dire regardless if she could open it or not.

It was only her wishful thinking. Shinobis were a paranoid bunch after all. For all she knew there could be a booby trap inside and simply by touching, it would be triggered to kill her.

She heard loud shouting and woods clashing before she saw the scene. Two figures were present on the training ground. One was large while the other was smaller by a couple of heads. Obviously the larger one was the White Fang and the latter was Kakashi, whose sorry figure was lying on the dirt.

 _'His father did not hold back at all'_. Ayame was a little intrigued by how the man trained his own son and tossed the idea in the bin inside her mind which she named  _'because it's the ninja way'._

A kunai was stuck on the ground. Sakumo tried to pluck it off but he did not even flinch when another set of sharp weapons targeted him. Ayame saw Kakashi's face  _(or his eyes for that matter since the other half of his face was covered)_  change into a face pure of determination. The girl had to admire him, considering fighting a jōnin was hard even for a chūnin. The boy was not even a genin and yet he was fighting his father who was rumoured to be on par with the  _Densetsu no Sannin._

It took the pair a while to notice her presence. Ayame was sure Sakumo had noticed her presence earlier. Being the jōnin he is, the man probably decided that it was best if he acknowledged her existence after the match. Kakashi grunted as a greeting and the girl nodded in reply. The two children had yet to make a conversation after the purple haired girl's arrival, and she was not sure if it was her fault.

There were several reasons as to why she tried to avoid  _confrontation_. First, she was tip-toeing around the boy because he was the biological son, and Ayame was pretty sure siblings without blood relations do not get close right off the bat. Faintly remembering that some people describe Kakashi as an arrogant prick in his childhood, it rang alarm bells in her mind. Thus, the probability of Kakashi loathing her was also high – after all, he was an only child and with her presence, his  _arrogant prick-ness_  would surely activate.

The second reason was simple. She would need to polish her Japanese because it might cause misunderstandings. Her three-word sentences would certainly create chaos and the silver-haired jōnin would surely regret adopting her. Until then, she would try to evade Kakashi as much as possible.

Ayame tried to avoid Kakashi's gaze and directed her eyes on Sakumo. "Maybe you should join us, Ayame-chan. It would probably help you adjust with the taijutsu lessons inside the Academy," the jōnin suggested while he sat on the ground.

The girl deliberated if she should agree or decline. Ayame nodded, seeing there would no disadvantages for her. It might also help her considering that she did not know how to fight. She had only practiced katas and forms from her mandatory defence class in high school. The trainers also held back too much so Ayame had never really considered herself as a competent fighter.

The training went smoothly, which Ayame did not expect. Sakumo was a talented teacher and gave her clear instructions on what she should or should not do. One of those points was  _breathing_ , a thing that he said to place focus on. Ayame had barely glossed over the topic in her defence class and had deliberately erased it from her memory. Apparently, from what the White Fang pointed out, it was the foundation of everything so forgetting it was not an option.

Luckily, she started running a year ago and her breathing and body long since synced.

The whole time, Hatake Kakashi was on the sidelines, practicing his kunai throwing skills. Ayame had no idea how he hit the target every time with the same exact accuracy and precision. Sakumo, seeing how she was distracted by his son, offered for her to try. The girl had tried to drop the 'beginner' card but instead of letting her go, he handed her a kunai and thrown her in front of his son.

Kakashi eyed her when she appeared before him. Ayame immediately rushed in front of the targets. The girl couldn't care less about his impression of her since she was 38 years  _older_ , but she was the foster sister and forcing him to adjust because of her attitude was not right.

"Force also contributes when it comes to knife throwing, but the most vital part in throwing a kunai is not technique but the  _precision_  of the hands," Sakumo interrupted her thoughts. "Observe the angle of your hands and how it will affect the kunai when you release it. Practice this and in time it will be a reflex and you will not need to focus that much."

The purple haired girl forced the answer from her throat, "I understand."

It was not the first time that Ayame spoke, but the anxiety after speaking still made her heart beat faster than normal. She found it ironic, in her last life her job required her to speak non-stop and currently it was hard for her to speak an array of words. Perhaps she took it for granted and now she was being punished so that she could barely hold a conversation.

* * *

Two months had passed since Hatake Sakumo dragged her into their training. The silver-haired jōnin had crossed her taijutsu as passable but she knew she was far from achieving Kakashi's prowess. On the other hand, it only took the man a few days to realize she busied herself with household chores if she was not on the training grounds. The jōnin was surprised and had not realized that a child her age could complete chores inside the house.

The White Fang was about to deal with the laundry two weeks after the girl's arrival and was surprised to find out that there was no clothes to wash. His mind immediately darted to the figure of the little girl he recently adopted. Sakumo had known Ayame was the one washing the dishes but he did not realize the girl would go as far as doing another's laundry.

Kakashi had not reacted at all after his father confronted the girl, on which she shrugged and continued to throw handful of kunais with more accuracy. Ayame guessed that he could not understand the implications of her washing his  _inner_  and outer garments. Laundry was not on a four-year-old child's mind.

But,  _oh_ , Ayame would certainly pay to see his reaction after she washed his clothes in his pubescent years.

The White Fang decided to proceed with chakra control. Chakra needed time and an enormous amount of training to build up so shinobis decided that the key would be to sufficiently control and conserve it, since not many ninja have large chakra reserves. This practice was called chakra control and was the means to easily use jutsus.

Ayame was a little disgruntled as to how Kakashi had learned chakra control in the span of a week, from what the silver-haired jōnin told her. Unknown to them, Ayame had exactly spent two months solely for chakra control. Listing a string of curses in her mind, Ayame swore to never place herself in the same station with a genius.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was unaware that the other child was cursing him in her mind and thus, decided to speak to her for the first time. "Why don't you just kill yourself?"

The off-handed comment made Ayame raise an eyebrow. She had bet with herself on what Kakashi's first words to her would be but she never expected this. The girl decided to stay silent even though her current Japanese was now somewhat  _acceptable_. The four-year-old wished everyone could speak in English so that things would be easier.

"I can't stand it." Kakashi gave another unsolicited comment. "Tou-san taught you how to handle chakra and now, somehow, you managed to mishandle it. I'm even surprised you aren't dead yet."

It was the truth. Kakashi had been observing her for a while now ( _correction_ : for two weeks straight) and she still hadn't gotten it right. If not for his father accepting a mission that would surely take weeks before he could finish, he would not help Ayame. The boy also did not want his father blaming him when he came home and saw the girl's cold body.

Ayame stared at him blankly. She was not offended by Kakashi's harsh words but she heard something unusual.

"I'm doing it wrong?" The girl did not even realize she fluently spoke without fear.

"Yes,  _everything_ ," Kakashi spoke matter-of-factly, "You're skipping various tenketsu points when moving your chakra. Hasn't Tou-san told you to do it  _slowly_? Baka."

' _I was doing it incorrectly from the start?_ ' Ayame became aware of her mistake and what Kakashi implied. In controlling chakra, one should do it with a constant speed so that the other tenketsus would not feel shock.

 _Shock_  was putting in nicely, but the consequences would be  _bloody_  and at worst she could possibly die. Nevertheless, if she could retain her life, she would live the rest of it being a gory mess with parts of her body missing. If the speed was not constant, chakra would block tenketsu point A and would refuse to transfer to tenketsu point B. As a result, the tenketsu point A would explode from the large amount of chakra and it would be hard to deal with.

The girl visibly paled and Kakashi could not hide the mirth in his eyes. He found it funny that the girl as stoic as an Uchiha would pale from fright. Nonetheless, it did not stop the boy from correcting Ayame's other mistake.

"You got another part wrong too," the boy stated behind his cloth mask, he eyed the girl with interest.

Ayame could not help but ask, "What is it?"

Kakashi loosened the green scarf on his neck using his right hand, while the other was pointing at Ayame's knee. "Bend your knee more when practicing stances. It's much easier that way."

"Aren't you doing the same thing?" the girl countered easily. "We—"

Ayame subconsciously stopped herself from speaking when she realized how easily the words flowed from her mouth. Perhaps it was Kakashi triggering it with how condescendingly he gazed at her and spoke with his over-confident words, or maybe her mind unconsciously treated the boy as ' _not human_ '. That was why she could talk freely.

"We what?" Kakashi replied, his stare getting sharper.

Ayame calmly stated her opinion, "We are both the same height. Why do I need to bend my knees lower?"

Kakashi could not help but sigh. He was not arrogant, contrary to the purple haired girl's belief. Somehow, between his younger years, rumours had spread that Sakumo's son was arrogant beyond belief. Sakumo tried to end it but the mouths of the masses were hard to stop.

It started when Kakashi was playing with the other kids and he, being confident in his abilities, tried to correct another child's error. His words were harsh and the mother of the child overheard. The tale had spread until no one could control it. There was another occasion where he refused to be pinched on the cheeks by someone he did not know. Apparently a little boy could be called insensitive for that. Since then, he wore a mask to prevent misunderstandings altogether.

Kakashi could only wave the story off and focus on training.

"Because the stance was  _made_  for men," Kakashi replied as he got back to practicing his kenjutsu.

From the time shinobis started to appear, the masculine majority were the ones who created the forms, stances and katas known to the world. It was only after the kunoichis gathered that the ninja population realized that they needed to adjust these practices to fit a woman's stature.

Ayame reviewed the information she had on Kakashi and decided to throw everything out of the window. The boy was  _confident_ , but that was far from being arrogant. The purple-haired girl knew an arrogant person when she saw one, like how she could recognize a  _liar_  just by a glance. If she could not even do a meagre thing then all those years of being a businesswoman would be for naught.

The rest of the day was spent on Kakashi giving her pointers and Ayame sharing her own. From what she could see, Kakashi was not omnipotent and  _all-knowing_  just because he was a genius. The chibi version of Hatake Sakumo was far from perfect. Shinobi or not, the boy was still a  _boy_.

The White Fang returned after another week, battered. Ayame was surprised but did not want to test her luck and try to heal him. Although she had learned medical ninjutsu from reading the Kurosawa Family's archives, she had only tested the technique herself. Curing other patients other than herself was out of the question. The shinobis that returned from missions were required to visit the hospital after reporting to the Hokage.

Sakumo was also surprised but for another reason. He knew he was staring but it was odd seeing the two coordinated perfectly. Kakashi had taken all his belongings and placed it in the storage room where he would sort it out later. Then Ayame arrived with tea and snacks and told him to rest after he consumed everything.

His son, again, emerged immediately after Ayame left and gave him pain relievers. He had received the same pills at the hospital earlier but he took the medicine from his son nonetheless. After that, Ayame arrived again and gingerly refilled his cup with tea.

The wind blew and the room was awfully quiet. Neither of the three decided to talk. Hatake Sakumo was lost. If he didn't know better, he would think that these two had known each other for a year at least, but it has not even been three months.

Finally, Sakumo asked out of curiosity, "What happened before I came back?" His  _hitaite_  gleamed under the light while the two remained unmoved under his gaze.

Kakashi glanced at the girl beside him. "We decided to have a truce."

"A  _truce_?" The silver-haired shinobi's amusement in his voice could not be hidden. After all, he did not expect the answer to be this out of place.

" _Somehow_ , while you were gone," Ayame nonchalantly replied, "We ended up fighting on who was the best at what."

"You mean to tell me—" Sakumo was not deterred after hearing the girl speak, "—a  _rivalry_  happened while I was gone?"

"More like, she tried to kill me and I tried to kill her."

The edge of Ayame's lip twitched after she heard the silver-haired chibi's reply. The house was always a mess in the afternoon. Vases would be broken, shoji doors would be ripped and the two struggled to pull the kunais attached to the wall. It was because of their insistent fighting that they had to think of a way to repair the multiple holes in the wall.

"I was  _gone_  and—"

"The house was destroyed in some areas, but we repaired most of it," Kakashi intervened.

Ayame coughed twice and corrected, "Destroyed in a  _couple_  of areas."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Yes, a  _couple_  of areas."

The White Fang buried his head between his hands when the two stopped speaking. After his wife's death, Sakumo had promised her that he would protect the house no matter what the cost and would never destroy it. Now their child had destroyed it because of a rivalry that popped out – out of nowhere.

Ayame acted as if the jōnin's problem had nothing to do with her and walked out of the scene, while Kakashi was left to watch his father. Sakumo sighed helplessly. Kakashi did not know what he had done wrong, but in his eyes, both he and Ayame were at fault.

They were fighting quite enthusiastically the other day and she had dashed inside the house to escape his attacks. Of course, he could not let it be and followed, making the house the main battlefield.

But Kakashi would never tell this secret to his father.

* * *

The White Fang would never tell this to anyone, but having the purple-haired girl in their home made him less stressed and decreased his anxiety. He followed the girl's figure as she placed the piles of neatly folded clothes beside him. Kakashi blankly stared at his own folded pile, and shrugged.

The girl was surprisingly good at household chores and dealing with Kakashi –  _her_ brother – and being a responsible child. The jōnin could now peacefully leave the house. He would not have to worry about his son causing trouble. Finally, he could stop sending Kakashi to the neighbours while wondering if they were treating him right.

Ayame gave him his newly-washed flak jacket and he accepted it with a grunt.

Only a week remained before they enter the Academy. Children were excited outside because of the popular game ' _ninja_ ', where children would need to tap their enemies in a game of tag. The group which had the largest remaining number of members would be the winners. Ayame thought the game should be a publicity stunt—like how celebrities tried to increase their fan base before an event—to gain more talented ninjas since the war was approaching.

Kakashi sat upright beside his father. Somehow, Ayame could not see the same Hatake Kakashi slumped and reading porn. But she shrugged and continued to fold her clothes.

Sakumo was treating Ayame like his own, an action which she greatly appreciated. Kakashi, on the other hand, had no qualms after having an adopted sister. The jōnin even forced the two of them to call each other onii-san/onee-san and imouto/otouto but unexpectedly, the two found it funny.

" _Nii_ -san, come over here and get your clothes," Ayame said, without glancing back.

Apparently, Kakashi was older than the girl by ten days – a fact that did not amuse Ayame the slightest bit. In the end, she could do nothing to change it. She could only blame herself for being born ten days after him.

Sakumo knew his son was smirking triumphantly.

"What's the matter  _imouto_? Why do you sound so sad? If anyone tried to bully you, your  _onii-chan_  would get them."

Ayame had never set foot outside the house since she arrived. The matter of bullying was completely false and Kakashi knew it. She chose to say inside the house so she did not have to deal with snotty-nosed brats. On the contrary, even the house was not safe from people. ' _Kakashi and those insane fools_ ,' Ayame thought gravely.

It took another two months and three missions for Sakumo before she understood what was happening. Every week, people would be bang on the door and scream their lungs out. It  _pissed her off_. It was early in the morning and they would disturb her sleep, a luxury she could only experience in her second life.

She was surprised to find out that they were proposing marriage, to a  _four-year-old_  boy. To say it was insane was a given. Ayame racked her mind about what to do before closing the door in their faces.

Inwardly she rolled her eyes. She decided that if she saw another handsome boy, Ayame would surely run the other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for Crimson Rose Blooms for beta-reading and for her efforts!


	5. Princess and her Ramen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta: Crimson Rose Blooms

_"The reason I talk to myself is because_ _I'm the only one whose answers I accept."_

**George Carlin**

* * *

Life is a mainstream topic yet it is the most important one. People often go to church or consult others about its meaning, but so far only a portion of the world knows its value. It is a series of know-hows and how-tos, and up until now the masses refuse to understand the truth in front of their eyes. The answer is obvious.

Life is valuable because of death.

The stages are clear to someone who has reached the end of life: infancy, toddler years, pre-school, primary, intermediate, high school, university, jobs – the next stage depends on the particular individual. For Ayame, she was stuck with her job until death. Is there a possibility that this time, it would change? The girl barely glanced at the huge building in front of her as she watched Kakashi enter the gates and dismissed the thought.

To say the least, the place was packed. Ayame dimly recalled her primary days. This time she would experience the catastrophe again. It was a pain, but she knew better than to voice her thoughts out loud. Those around her might change moods and she was not ready to deal with the fury of their parents after school. Clicking her tongue, she listened to the bustling crowd and felt a weird sensation.

After being reborn, her thoughts on school changed. Ayame did not show any signs, but the growing dislike may overcome her, so she slowly shook her head.

Children from civilian backgrounds were happily discussing their futures while the clan kids were silent, probably hoping for the best. Kakashi noticed that the girl beside him disappeared. He slowly looked back and found the purple-haired child standing alone – not moving. She was mostly silent, but Kakashi hazily knew her line of thought.

The boy was so distracted that he failed to notice the two people behind him. It was Ayame's time to transfer her gaze on the silver-haired chibi. She saw a well-built man with high cheekbones and a large nose. Beside him was a dark-haired boy with unusually thick eyebrows that she had never seen before. She slowly made his way beside her brother and raised her head to look at the odd pair before them.

Both of them were wearing matching outfits with a terribly bright scarf around their necks. Their outfits were absurd to a certain extent. ' _At_   _least my eyes don't hurt because of their outfits_ ,' she could not help but think. The two were obviously father and son. Ayame then glanced at Kakashi and realized he was thinking about his father, Sakumo, who was currently absent because of a last-minute mission.

"Is that your friend, Kakashi?" she asked and gave the bushy-browed boy a brief look. "Maybe you'll be classmates inside the academy."

Ayame called his name casually since Sakumo had given up forcing them to call each other  _onii-san_  and  _imouto_ , after realising it was impossible without anyone getting hurt.

"Ah, that's impossible," the well-built man with a moustache replied good-naturedly.

The Kurosawa girl heard Kakashi scoff and cross his arms. " _Impossible_ ," he responded with ridicule, which made Ayame raise her eyebrows slightly. "You see, this boy flunked the academy entrance exam."

The aforementioned boy failed epically at both ninjutsu and genjutsu. Although his talents at the two subjects were severely lacking, his prowess at taijutsu was one in a million. Ayame did not react to Kakashi's words in the slightest. The genius chibi was only telling the truth but it came out incredibly rude. It caused the boy in front of them to frown.

"He can't even do ninjutsu. What the heck is he thinking?" Kakashi clicked his tongue, a hint of derision in his tone.

"But you don't deny that he  _is_  your friend?" She felt the silver-haired boy beside him stiffen and Ayame smiled under the cloth covering her face.

Living with the Hatakes had given her access to their daily life. Surprisingly Might Duy, even with his lack of chakra, managed to become a chūnin. It went against what she learned from the canon but it made her wonder how  _he_  did it. The ' _Eternal Genin_ ' had unpredictably advanced a rank. From what Ayame heard from the White Fang, Sakumo had met Duy at the market.

The masked boy frowned and in some way, considered his sister's words. Kakashi's father befriended Guy's dad; that was the reason the two boys knew each other beforehand. Despite his father's urging to beware and treat the bushy-browed boy as his rival, he could not think of it as a possibility.

"I AM THANKFUL THAT MY ETERNAL RIVAL THINKS OF ME AS SUCH!" Might Guy suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs. The crowd of parents and children transferred their attention to them. "AND AGAIN ETERNAL RIVAL! THANK YOU FOR CHEERING ME ON!"

Might Duy smiled at his son and bid farewell after a few moments of silence. Kakashi was dumbstruck by Guy's words. The silver-haired genius never aimed to make the other boy feel negative or upset. What he wanted to tell Might Guy was that his efforts would never be enough. But he never expected the other to still feel  _enthusiastic_.

Ayame bobbed her head to the right as she watched the figures of the father and son disappear into the crowd.

* * *

"You know, Ayame-chan, when I first saw you I thought your eyes were stunning," Shiranui Genma drawled out with newfound interest.

Ayame spared him no attention and continued to eat her packed lunch. "If I must tell you, Shiranui- _senpai_ , your peers are currently glaring daggers at me. I'm afraid I will be dead by the end of the week if you continue to  _bond_  with your kōhais." The Kurosawa girl wanted to hear none of Genma's nonsense since it was giving her headache.

It was the end of the month, the fourth week after Ayame entered the academy. She was seated in a circle with her acquaintances in the academy. The group consisted of Hatake Kakashi, Yūhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma and Morino Ibiki. Most of them were in the same class except Kurenai, who was in the room beside them. The Kurosawa child was thankful to find another girl who could last against the group of rowdy boys, but nevertheless regretted that the red-eyed girl was not her classmate.

Kurenai could only accompany them during lunch since their schedules largely differed. Kurenai's class was mostly composed of children that came from shinobi parents and civilian kids with no background while Kakashi and Ayame belonged to the group that was mostly composed of clan kids and a few intelligent civilians. Ayame's schedule was also aligned with the other clan children that were her upper class-men. If she had to guess, the clan kids and civilian-born children were prevented from interacting due to some of the clans' prejudice.

Conversely, Shiranui Genma was a few years older than them and had taken  _quite_  a liking to their group. He entered the Academy 2 years ago with his friend Namiashi Raidō, who was also sitting alongside them with a calm face. Genma's physical appearance, in simple terms, was  _handsome_. In fact, he had gathered a large fan-base inside Konoha Academy. He had not even hit puberty and yet, women of various ages were fond of him. They even assaulted Ayame every time she was alone because Genma voiced his interest in her.

Though Ayame was not bothered by their incessant chattering whenever she happened to pass by, it was nevertheless troublesome since she was alone most of the time after lunch.

Kakashi and the others found the idea of skipping school fun. Being an adult inside a child's body, the thought of skipping now felt like an arduous task, so she rejected Asuma's invitation and stayed in the Academy. The fan-girls thought it was their chance to teach her a lesson, so every now and then they would try to rile her up through insults.

For the former businesswoman, the jeers were nothing and fighting with them meant stooping to their level. Ayame would not even fight back, given that young children were entitled to their belief. It would be a difficult task to correct them once they went astray.

Furthermore, the idea of a 38-year-old former entrepreneur fighting with children  _way_  younger than her was making her shudder. She could use the psychological trick that she had often used on her former workers to intimidate them. Perhaps she could persuade them with the skills she mastered by convincing other companies to invest in them.

Ayame realized it would be better if she just ignored the fan-girls – adults were just at an arm's reach. If she was harmed, she could scream out loud. Screaming for help would be a little bit out of character but effective nonetheless.

Genma was indifferent and flipped the senbon in his mouth. "But Ayame-chaaaan, don't you think it's too unfair on my kōhais if we refused to bond with you? On the other hand," he bit the needle in his mouth and continued, "most of the people that have the intent to kill you are  _Kakashi's_ fangirls _._ What's the harm in adding  _my_ admirers?"

It was not surprising that Kakashi had also managed to form his 'fan-club' in the Academy. The only problem was most of them were crazed fangirls that would assault any girl that would come near him – even his foster sister was not excluded. They also claimed that the chibi was  _so_ _cool_ and  _handsome_ that it made Ayame look at them with annoyance. They could praise him all day long and she could not care less, but they had started to piss her off with their lies and rubbish.

"Maybe you should mind your own business and stop bothering us," Kurenai demanded as she noisily smashed her lunch box on the ground. She smiled menacingly. She was tired of being the only one with the guts and willpower to repel the senbon-eating boy – everyone could see that. Even Asuma, who was beside her, gave Genma an intimidating look. But she had no choice but to save her only girl-friend since most of the boys were not bothered.

Asuma made sure to add some advice. "Kurenai-chan's right, you should also try and avoid coming back here."

"Look."

Everyone directed their attention to Raidō who spoke for the first time. He was silent all the time so Kurenai could only direct her ire at Genma. Ayame had appreciated Raido's silence and mentally noted him as an acquaintance.

"I apologize for Genma-kun's pushiness. However, we have a little problem with our age group." Raidō's eyes land on the other side of the playground where his classmates were. The group guessed they were the reason they continued to stick with them like a leech.

Kakashi, finished with his lunch, finally decided to intervene. "Your problem is  _your_  problem. You don't have to drag us into it." The boy hated people that could not solve their own problems, especially those who would ask for help even if they could do it themselves.

Ibiki nodded and pointed his chopsticks at Genma. "You need to solve your problems yourselves."

"But maybe we should listen first," Kurenai recommended, her eyes waiting for Ayame's disapproval. She sighed when Ayame showed no sign and carefully observed her two upperclassmen.

"You should really decide what you want, Kurenai-chan," the silver-haired boy advised her with sarcasm.

Asuma immediately replied, "Maybe we should actually listen to them."

"You too, Asuma-kun."

The group was silent. Everybody was contemplating on whether they should listen to the boys or not. Ayame had no opinion on the predicament but she knew the group would soon have no choice on the matter but to agree. After all, Shiranui Genma and Namiashi Raidō would never leave their group unless they got they wanted.

"We should listen," she announced. Ayame was aware that their lunch break would end soon so they needed to make an abrupt decision. In the worst case scenario, they would abandon the two boys. It was easy since they were children. Choices were available.

Genma removed the senbon in his mouth and spoke, "The truth is we have limited options in choosing our circle of friends. When you narrow it down, the only group left is this one."

In a nutshell, the two could only bother their group given that they did not have much choice.

Ayame could now see the problem. In their year, clan kids tended to stick together. Since Genma and Raidō were  _technically_  civilians because they still needed to graduate, they could not join the group of children who have ninja parents. Even if they had shinobi parents, they could not bond with children with the same familial background. It was because of Genma's fangirls who were surprisingly flexible. The boy could not find a group that he could be friends with because most of the girls in his year have a crush on him. It was a pain in the ass, and Shiranui Genma would choose his kōhais over being flooded by his over-affectionate fans.

The group heard the academy instructor call their section and prepared to leave. Kurenai told them that they should continue discussing tomorrow to which Kakashi replied that Ayame and himself could not because during weekends they train at home. The Kurosawa girl then added that she would tell Kurenai her decision while Kakashi would tell Ibiki. Genma and Raidō were satisfied and left.

Kurenai and Asuma went back first. Ayame found herself alone with Ibiki after Kakashi dashed inside the building. They glanced at each other but neither of them spoke. Morino Ibiki knew Ayame was not fond of talking but he was never the one to initiate a conversation unless necessary. They were not that close either, even though they were in the same group. They had never talked. The boy decided to enter the Academy first, leaving the purple-haired girl by herself.

Ayame's light grey eyes observed the surroundings to a group that was happily playing to another. She saw Guy's figure dashing around the academy grounds upside down, using his hands instead of his feet. Might Guy was reconsidered and placed in the same section with Yūhi Kurenai. Kurenai had complained about the boy's enthusiasm so many times that Kakashi could only snort.

Ayame faintly recalled these minor things in the canon and she had tried her best to remember the major arcs.

Ayame sighed and followed Ibiki's fading figure as he entered the academy doors.

* * *

"What did you just say?! You and Kakashi are advancing another grade?!" Yūhi Kurenai was not the type of girl that easily lost composure, but after hearing what her Ayame told them she could not help but react strongly.

Asuma, on the other hand, was not that shocked since he knew the two were bound to leave them. Seeing how decisive and quick-witted the girl was and how talented Kakashi was in everything, it was easy to understand. The siblings were out of their league – advancing another grade was an easy matter. Nevertheless, he was still surprised since it had only been a month since they entered the academy.

Ibiki and Raidō widened their eyes a little. Genma's reaction was quite extreme; he screamed with an ' _HAAAAAA_?!' after hearing the news. After the group had accepted Genma and Raidō, the two became quite comfortable with the team.

The group were alone in the Konoha playground. It was afternoon and most of the children their age had gone home, others were visiting friends. Ayame was forced by Kurenai to meet on the weekend. She was dragged out of the house by Asuma. Kakashi was only present because he was without a training partner and Sakumo was yet to return.

"Apparently, the tests Ayame and I took at the end of the month were to identify which children were eligible to advance," Kakashi helpfully supplied while Kurenai was choking the Kurosawa girl. "Kyoko-sensei gave us an advanced test. From the looks of it, they carefully observed each academy student, and decided which children pass."

Kurenai finally freed Ayame from her clutches and heaved a deep sigh. "I finally found a friend who's not noisy and now you're leaving me?" She gave Ayame a disappointed look and continued, "If the results were not obvious I would definitely disagree. But even I, from the other section, have heard you were doing incredibly."

"Incredibly?" Ibiki asked.

Genma flipped the senbon in his mouth. "Now that I think about it, I heard Ayame and Kakashi are the top students in your batch. I heard they perfected every exam, defeated everyone in taijutsu and have an excellent aptitude for ninjutsu. Don't tell me..."

"What is it?" Ayame gave Genma a questioning stare. It also piqued Kakashi's interest, so he turned to look.

"You and Kakashi are not human?"

"That's the best you can come up with?" The silver-haired boy continued to play with his wooden sword.

Asuma sighed loudly, "Genma-senpai, you really arrive at strange conclusions."

The tests were created by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, to identify the children who can immediately help during the war. Since Konohagakure was newly founded, the village's power was lacking even with the aid of large clans. As a final option, they decided to rely on the academy to produce as many graduate as possible to add to the fighting force.

There was even a change of rules during the war. In peacetime, Academy students should graduate aged 11 at least. But when there was war, it was reduced to 9 years old and could be much lower if a talent could become a shinobi fast.

Ayame was already an adult. She had already taken subjects like arithmetic in her previous life. She would be ashamed of herself if she could not do elementary math. The only subjects that she had expended effort to were taijutsu and ninjutsu. With the help of the narcissist Kakashi, she managed to easily defeat all the kunoichi in her year.

Kakashi halted his movements and faced the group. "Anyway, we are not that perfect."

"Can't believe that came from you," Ibiki scoffed. He grabbed some dirt and threw it on Kakashi who quickly dodged.

Ayame brushed the invisible dust from her mask and clothes. "Kakashi really hates even the thought of tempura," she told them out of the blue which earned a glare from Kakashi.

"Eh?" Asuma's jaw dropped. "But last time the tempura was not that awful, was it?"

"Well, I'm certain it's not because of my cooking," Ayame flaunted. She smirked behind her mask.

Since Ayame dealt with most of the household chores, every time she cooked she avoided cooking what Sakumo and Kakashi disliked. Sakumo was not that fond of eggs but he loved stir-fried vegetables while Kakashi hated tempura and preferred anything with eggplants or fish.

Raidō stopped nibbling his crackers and raised his head. "Huh," he spoke absentmindedly, "I did not know that you could cook."

Genma raised his eyebrow. "You've been eating her cooking for the past week and yet you still don't know?"

Kurenai rolled her red eyes and muttered, "Glutton."

Raidō did not plan to hide it but ever since they started offering him lunches, he could not stop eating. Until now he never figured out who was cooking their lunch and shamelessly ate everything. After a week, the group decided to stop the boy from his relentless binge eating. To prevent withdrawal symptoms, they gave him bland crackers to satiate his hunger.

Genma could already feel his head hurting while he observed his friend bite his cracker little by little.

In Ayame's case, the Hatakes was used to her cooking at home so when it came to lunchboxes, she was required to prepare it every day. She had no qualms. To share her burden, Kurenai volunteered to bring the rice and Asuma claimed to be the one who was in charge of drinks. Ibiki was the one who would do the washing.

With the addition of Genma and Raidō, there was the contribution of raw vegetables.

"Yeah, I don't like tempura. What of it?" Kakashi could not understand why people like the taste of it. For him, it was horrible – much worse than eating a bitter dango. "At least I can do kenjutsu,  _idiot_."

The Kurosawa girl's eye twitched. Before entering the academy, Sakumo tried his best to train her in kenjutsu, the Hatake Clan's specialty, but no matter how hard Ayame tried, the sword in her hand had not felt like an extension of her arm. The White Fang dropped the matter altogether when Kakashi started harassing her because of her lack of talent. So when Kakashi was training his kenjutsu, she would train her chakra control and secretly practice her medic ninjutsu.

It was a good thing that their truce would last for a year or Ayame would really beat the hell out of Kakashi.

Kurenai saw that she was irritated and was amused at how the siblings could aggravate each other in such a short time. Every one of them knew how collected Ayame was and how Kakashi could fight in a verbal battle without breaking a sweat. But the two of them were like opposite poles.

"Well, we all have that one subject we are weak at." Kurenai patted her shoulder for comfort.

Kakashi held the base of the wooden sword tighter and threw it between Kurenai and his foster sister. "Sadly, I'm not weak at  _anything_."

" _HEY_!" Kurenai and Asuma shouted in unison as they followed the direction of the sword.

It was about to hit Ayame's face when she easily grabbed the hilt of the sword with her left hand and threw it back. "Jack of all trades, master of  _none_ ," Ayame replied as if implying something.

"Do you want to fight?" the silver-haired chibi said with furrowed brows.

"Do I?"

Ibiki fell into deep thought and realized they should stop the Saturday meetings; the two siblings loved to fight outside the academy after all.

* * *

"So…" Kurenai felt awkward. She appreciated bonding with the younger girl but Ayame had grabbed her without warning and dragged her to Konoha's marketplace. "Where are we going?"

"Ramen Ichiraku," the purple-haired girl answered, "The owner gave me four stubs for free ramen since they've only been opened for a year. Thought it was a nice deal and agreed in exchange for my place in line at the dango shop."

The dango shop across the Hatake house usually had a long line. Ayame had no problem lining up since her house was close. She would have willingly given her place in line for the man, even without a stub. But free food should not be rejected so she accepted the ramen. In any case, Ramen Ichiraku had given her a deep impression after she watched the series.

"You already asked Kakashi, didn't you? Why did you have to drag me along too?" Kurenai was not unwilling and she did not dislike ramen, she just always had a hard time finishing a bowl of it. She knew Ayame did not like wasting food and if the girl saw her unfinished bowl, she would probably look at her with contempt.

"I gave one to Kakashi and Sakumo-san, now I have two. So I thought of you," Ayame informed her without much concern as she adjusted the mask on her face. She felt uncomfortable; the edges of the metal weights Sakumo had given her four months ago were scraping her skin.

The White Fang, after he took her in, immediately noticed the hidden weights on her feet. It was regular iron that she used in the Academy (rather she never removed it). It helped her train her growing muscles. At first, Sakumo asked some questions on where she obtained it, but she successfully deflected them. Instead, the silver-haired jōnin suggested that she should replace it with regular shinobi weights.

Kurenai noticed that the purple-haired girl fell into deep thought. She kept quiet and waited until Ayame had finished thinking.

"We're here," Ayame whispered. She didn't even need to lift the pieces of cloth that were hanging in front of the shop. With the words  _Rāmen Ichiraku_  syllable by syllable on each sign, it gave an impression of being hospitable.

The red-eyed girl followed her inside. The place was silent; only the sound of banging pans and sizzling ingredients could be heard. There was chomping and loud munching that made Kurenai turn to look at the counter, where a teenager under 15 was noisily eating with gusto. She observed the teen that had a slender but feminine build and red hair.

Ayame glanced at the counter. With one look, she knew the one slurping was Uzumaki Kushina. The young lady was known by the name  _Akai Chishio no Habanero_  (赤い血潮のハバネロ) or Red-Hot Habanero. In her younger years, she proclaimed that she would be the first female Hokage that made the other kids laugh and mock her. She – being hot-headed as she was – retaliated with her red hair flying wildly, causing her to be called by that nickname.

"Isn't she eating too loudly?" Kurenai whispered. The girl was bothered by how the Uzumaki loudly slurped and ate without any sign of gracefulness. She was raised in a  _too_  feminine household for Ayame's taste. That was why when she was around Yūhi Kurenai, she could not help but be careful of her movements.

Ayame decided to warn her friend. "Try not to criticize her next time when you're around her." Without even closing her eyes, she could imagine Kushina's flying red hair and her angry face, coupled with the bijū inside her. Goosebumps appeared on her skin.

"Huh, are you afraid or something?"

Right then and there, Ayame wanted to smack the future genjutsu master on the face, even if it means making her an enemy. She was not afraid of her; rather the powerhouse chakra monster inside her. "Have you ever heard of the Red-Hot Habanero?"

Kurenai furrowed her brows as she sat beside the red-haired lady. Ayame sat next to her without missing a beat. "Ah, you mean the Red-Hot Habanero? The scary old lady they say that will terrify you in your dreams. The –" she stopped speaking and realized what the younger girl meant, "— _you mean I am sitting beside the Akai Chishio no Habanero?!_ "

"Hoy, I can hear you, 'ttebane. I'm not scary and more importantly –" Kushina paused and silently placed her finished bowl on the counter as she faced Kurenai, "—I'm not  _old_."

In Kurenai's surprise, the Uzumaki admitted to being the Red-Hot Habanero a little too willingly. Seeing that the red-head was not an old lady shocked her even more. It was not a secret that the name Akai Chishio no Habanero spread like wildfire. Parents used it to scare their children when they did bad things. It even spread to the point where other countries treated the owner of the nickname as a horrifying ghost with ugly features.

The young girls knew it was false after seeing the lady herself. Uzumaki Kushina was in her teens – obviously – and she was a beauty. Her waist-length hair was flowing as if it was alive and her violet eyes were shining. Branding her ugly was insulting everyone who had average looks and calling her old meant that Ayame and Kurenai were older than they appeared to be.

Teuchi finally noticed the arrival of the two children and welcomed them with a laugh. "Ayame-chan, you're finally here! Is that your friend?" His slit of an eye darted from the Kurosawa girl to Kurenai.

"Eh? Teuchi-san, you know these two?" Kushina's eyes widened a little as she glanced between the two parties. She had not forgotten how the child with red-eyes called her  _old_. But Teuchi was a good judge of character, and it meant that the two outspoken children were not that bad.

"Not really," the old man replied. "I only know Ayame-chan. She was the one I told you that gave me her place in line at the dango shop."

A flash of recognition passed before the Uzumaki's eyes. She glanced at the purple-haired girl. One look at her movements and Kushina knew that Ayame was a student in the academy. Ayame, on the other hand, could feel the red-head's eyes and decided to let it be. The lady was obviously a jōnin with her wearing the standard flak jacket.

Kushina smiled at the two girls. "Nice to meet you two, 'ttebane! I'm Uzumaki Kushina!" Kurenai could not help but cringe at her energetic voice.

"Nice to meet you, I am Yūhi Kurenai."

After Kurenai's introduction, the purple-haired girl followed. "I'm Kurosawa Ayame."

From Ayame's blurry memories, she realized that the enthusiastic Uzumaki would die in the future. A strange emotion enveloped her heart as she averted her eyes from the future mother of Uzumaki Naruto.


	6. Changes and his Rebellion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betareader: CrimsonRoseBlooms

_"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored_ _."_   
**Aldous Huxley**

* * *

"How was Academy, Ayame-chan?" Sakumo chopped the onions with his left hand while he passed the carrots to Ayame with his right. "Kakashi told me you're having a hard time."

Ayame looked at Kakashi out the corner of her eyes. She saw him glance at her and immediately retracted his gaze. Kakashi was seated at the dining table waiting while Sakumo and Ayame prepared dinner. It became an everyday routine when the White Fang was home. The jōnin would help her cook while Kakashi would sit and read.

"I am adjusting," she replied, after a moment of hesitation.

She could not talk comfortably with her classmates. Most of the children in her class were between the ages of 6 and 8 and a portion of them did not like talking to a younger girl with the word 'genius' written on her forehead.

In addition, Kakashi had mercilessly left her behind to advance another grade. He would often remind Ayame how she failed the taijutsu and ninjutsu portion of the advancement test. Ayame was not angry but she was thoroughly frustrated at creating such an impossible goal.

Earlier that month, she realized that her little body was getting more uncomfortable. Taijutsu was becoming more difficult as days passed by because she had to hide how her small figure did not match her old soul. On the other hand, ninjutsu was difficult because her chakra was malfunctioning. Her mind rejected the foreign energy. As a result, her 'talent' was declining at a  _rapid_ state.

It was  _chaos_.

She needed to find a way to fix each problem without dealing with the consequences.

Furthermore, she realized that her habits from the past were becoming a hindrance. Ayame would frequently touch her thigh to find her phone. Her mind would go blank for a moment then she would realize that this was  _another life_. There was no way to own a phone in Konoha; their technology was not that advanced in the first place.

She would also read books to battle her insomnia. The four-year-old girl needed to make sure that no one knew about her problem so would often collect books at an earlier date. Although her room had lights, she would use a candle to prevent Sakumo or Kakashi finding out. Ayame concluded that her body subconsciously absorbed  _every_ habit she had in the past. It made her timetable a mess.

Currently, she was recovering at a snail's pace but it was better than nothing.

"Don't worry, tou-san. I am dealing with her ninjutsu." Kakashi flipped another page of his book while the White Fang served the food.

Ayame faintly raised her eyebrows. ' _So the added lessons in ninjutsu were for this?_ '

Recently, Kakashi had doubled his pro-activeness and started to bother her in her free time. He would often drag her to train her ninjutsu and in passing, her genjutsu. Their group would also follow, given that they have no choice – Kurenai's enthusiasm added with the silver-haired boy's forcefulness were hard to stop. It was an arduous ordeal (troublesome even) since most of them had plans.

"Is that so, Kakashi?" the White Fang absentmindedly replied.

Ayame ate silently. Her chopsticks darted back and forth in a slow motion. "Sakumo-san?"

Kakashi and the silver-haired jōnin raised their heads at the same time. "Do you need something, Ayame-chan?"

"Why did you adopt me?"

Kurosawa Ayame was no idiot. Adopting her meant another mouth to feed and a child to take care of – a situation that would give Hatake Sakumo a hard time.

In the manga, some readers concluded that it was the burden of having a child that made the White Fang fail on his mission and caused him to commit suicide later. She shared the same opinion. Being a single father was a huge burden in itself. On top of that, he was part of the ANBU. Problems would arise eventually; even a Hero could not help but miserably fall.

Kakashi stiffened at her question while his father did not show any reaction. Sakumo waved his chopsticks and put the bowl back on the table. "Your mother and father were eccentric people," he began, a curve at the end of his lips showing. "But they had many friends, even if they are a little…  _odd_. If I did not adopt you, someone eventually would have."

It was Kakashi's turn to inquire. "Eccentric?" His interest was obviously piqued.

"Yes, they would say weird things from time to time. But their father – Ayame-chan's grandfather – was also like that. So I thought it was a Kurosawa trait. Thankfully, Ayame-chan is different."

The four-year-old girl listened silently. She wanted to ask what kind of weird things they said but she would rather listen. She never heard them say anything odd but there was definitely something strange about her parents. Ayame was suddenly reminded of her days with the two. They barely talked but when they did, it was about ninjutsu techniques and taijutsu.

Ayame sighed and continued to eat. The food appeared less appetizing but she ate, even so.

* * *

The last time someone saw Kakashi's face was when his father forcibly removed his mask. That time, his father felt that his son should start making friends outside. The White Fang tried to discourage his son from wearing the mask but the boy insisted, saying it was a way of idolizing him.

"Should I leave?" Ayame deadpanned after opening the shoji door.

Kakashi had removed his mask to take a bath after training. Ayame was getting better at taijutsu and beating him senseless as revenge. That was when the particular girl decided to intrude and open the door to his room, seeing him barefaced.

The silver-haired chibi's eye twitched. "Why are you here?"

"Sakumo-san told me to remind you that the two of you are going to buy weapons at the market." Ayame internally rolled her eyes as she glanced at Kakashi's frozen form. To be frank, she could not care less about her brother's face. She had seen it while reading the Naruto manga and even then, she was not bothered.

On the other hand, Kakashi was not pleased. "Do you even know how to knock?" He was irritated that his secret had somehow  _leaked out_  – what was worse was that the other party did not seem to care.

"Why are you so angry? Did I see something I shouldn't have?"

Kurosawa Ayame had been with the Hatake family for several months now. If someone asked about her foster sister, Kakashi would only shrug. The truth was that Ayame had become a part of his family and he could not lie about that. He knew her habits better than anyone: her personality, even her likes and dislikes.

But the Kurosawa girl could be  _irritating_  sometimes.

Kakashi closed his eyes to stop himself from saying unnecessary things. "Knock on the door next time," he replied then turned his heel to enter the bath.

Ayame did not reply and closed the shoji door.

Night rapidly descended. The White Fang had gone on another mission; this time outside the borders as an official jōnin. Ayame was in her room, reading excerpts from historical books when she heard a loud crash outside. Instead of rushing, she moved leisurely. She was sure it was not a robbery since she heard that the security fuinjutsu around the Hatake house was fool-proof. If she had to guess, she would list Kakashi as the culprit.

Her feet did not even make a sound as moved. She now understood how children felt when adults forced them to bathe. Surprisingly, a child's body had some immunity over being irked by dirt. She could stroll around the house with the clothes she had been wearing since daybreak.

Ayame peeked at the training ground where Kakashi's lone figure stood under the moonlight. She hesitantly approached the silver-haired chibi with a kunai in her hand. The boy tended to attack if someone approached him from behind so she needed to take necessary precautions.

Kakashi immediately turned, his bare face facing Ayame's covered one. He did not attack, only lifted his gaze to the girl's figure. Both of them did not know what to do. She decided to sit on the ground she was standing on. The boy's eyes slightly widened.

"Why are you here?" Kakashi could not help but ask. He soon realized that talking while the other one was standing was incredibly inefficient so he also sat. Trees rustled around while the two children gazed at each other's eyes.

"Nothing," she answered nonchalantly as she focused her eyes on the trees around them.

Kakashi, without his mask, visibly twitched at her foster sister's answer. However, he was used to hearing that specific word so he had no problem responding. "You're really an idiot."

The answer was a reflex every time the Kurosawa girl replied with 'nothing'. They had this exact conversation a number of times. He could not help but be amused.

Kurosawa Ayame only shook her head – an action she had done numerous times after living with the Hatakes. The cloth on her face swayed with her head, her light grey eyes shone under the moonlight. "Why are you not wearing your mask?"

"Well, my efforts would be wasted if I tried hiding it again," his voice was laced with irritation. "You and tou-san had seen it anyway; why hide it?"

"You're blaming me, aren't you?"

"Huh, am I?"

It was not her intention to see his face. Ayame was not called Ayame before; she was named Arabella. Being Arabella meant that she was a wealthy businesswoman at the top of social strata. Knocking on someone's door and bothering them was the least of her concerns. She was 38 and all she cared about was getting the job done in the fastest way possible. Additionally, people did not dare offend her so no one had told her what she was doing wrong.

"Kakashi, you're a pompous jerk." Ayame's words reached the silver-haired boy's ear and he cringed. She saw his reaction and smiled behind the mask. "What? You don't want to hear the truth?"

Kakashi was about to retort when the purple-haired girl continued, "I'm kidding, you don't have to look so heartbroken—", he glared at her, "— and stop glaring at me. If you could see the look on your face, you would laugh at yourself. "

"That's right, satisfy yourself," Kakashi replied with sarcasm, the edge of his lips was continuously twitching. "Maybe that's why you're making fun of me. I have no problem with my face even though I'm hiding it. Perhaps… you're covering your ugly face?"

"Maybe."

The silver-haired boy evidently did not expect that answer. In contrast, Ayame had not purposely replied with a nonsense answer. It was because she did know the answer.

Ever since she was reincarnated she had avoided the mirror like a plague. The Kurosawa household did not have many reflective surfaces and she could not find it if she wanted to, given that an infant could hardly move. After she was transferred to the orphanage, she saw her bare face for the first time. The experience was uncomfortable – the face felt foreign.

It could be described akin to watching someone on a television screen, only the person on the other side moved when she did. In addition, the image of her previous life's face flickered on her mind. The experience could not be explained in a good light. Later, she decided to never remove the cloth from her face. It was an incessant reminder that she was not what she used to be. It indicated that she needed to cut off the life tied with the name  _Arabella_.

Ayame had moved on, seeing as it had been  _years_. Nevertheless, the memories of another life were still there and she was still working on separating the life of the businesswoman and a shinobi.

"What do you mean?" Hatake Kakashi's gaze landed on her face. He was confused and  _irritated_ by how his foster sister answered everything vaguely. The only thing he could think about was how the girl smoothly dodged every  _freaking question_  ever since his Tou-san appeared with her that day in the living room.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Never seen it."

There was silence.

Hatake Kakashi rubbed his face in frustration as Ayame observed her with mirth. "Could you just…? Never mind, you idiot. I should've expected this to happen."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the idiot. But admit it, you thought I was better than this," she answered and a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

Kakashi had not realized it and replied with a loud groan.

* * *

Ramen Ichiraku was open 24 hours a day. It reminded Ayame of convenience stores. The only difference was there was only one man operating the store and the only merchandise they sold was Ramen. She had asked how Teuchi could handle the 24-hour shift, to which the man replied with a hearty laugh.

"You really need to go back, Kushina. Minato is drunk. Fugaku and the twins can't handle him anymore." Shikaku leaned on the poles inside the ramen shop. It was not of his own will that he came to fetch the Red-Hot Habanero. It was because he lost in rock-paper-scissors against Fugaku.

"It's not my fault you forced him to drink 'ttebane! The lot of you were playing truth or dare and you banned me and Mikoto from joining! Take care of  _your_ own damn problems 'ttebane." Kushina glared at the Nara, her hair flying behind her.

Ayame watched the scene unfold. She could not deny that she was entertained by Nara's predicament. Earlier that day, a raging Kushina had stopped her on her way home. Classes were finished and Kakashi had something to do so they did not go home together. On the way, she met Kushina mumbling curses. The passers-by tried their best to maintain their distance from the Uzumaki.

Since their first meeting, the red-haired shinobi was well acquainted with Ayame because of her indifference to everything. She would drag the four-year-old to eat ramen with her. Ayame was surprised at Kushina's eagerness at first – it was odd being dragged by someone you barely knew after all – but got accustomed to it when she realized she had no choice on the matter. Teuchi even nicknamed them ' _Ramen friends_ ' which annoyed Ayame to no end, even if she did not show it.

" _Troublesome_ ," Shikaku muttered under his breath. His arms were crossed while his eyes landed on the child beside Kushina. "Aaaand, you dragged another gaki to your side."

Everyone was aware of Kushina's tendencies to  _forcefully_ befriend anyone who was not scared of her. It was the same for the Nara heir and their little circle of friends. Shikaku guessed it was because most children her age tended to avoid her. Her only chance to make friends was to force the individuals who were not afraid. He couldn't really blame her.

Kushina glanced at the girl beside her and Ayame thought she was about to glower. " _I_ did not drag her –"

"For the record, you did," Ayame intervened while she sipped from her noodles.

"—okay, okay! Maybe  _I_  did, 'ttebane. But she didn't refuse."

Shikaku smirked, scratching the back of his head while he waited for the Uzumaki. He had not anticipated Ayame to be here.

"Kushina, I know you will agree anyway. Better do it now rather than later, or else your room will be in a  _serious_ mess." He drawled out the last words.

"What?!"

"After you stormed out, Mikoto decided your room was perfect for truth or dare," he replied then stood properly to look around the small stall.

Kushina widened her violet eyes and her hands instantly appeared on Shikaku's shoulder. "Mikoto suggested it?! What the hell, 'ttebane!"

In truth, they only wanted to avoid Kushina joining since her alcohol tolerance was scarily low. One small cup of sake would knock her out cold. On the other hand, Minato would often refuse their offers to drinking alcohol. They managed to force him, which led to their current predicament. Shikaku regretted not stopping the blond the moment he agreed to drink.

Now, Minato was crazily asking everyone for a fight. When the Nara heir left, he was battling with Inoichi.

"Damn it!" The Uzumaki flipped her red hair in anger. "We're going. Ayame-chan, you're coming too."

"Eh?"

"Shikaku, carry Ayame-chan since  _obviously_ , you could handle Minato but you  _didn't_."

"Troublesome."

* * *

"Shikaku, who is this girl?"

Ayame did not know whether it was Hyuuga Hiashi or Hyuuga Hizashi who spoke. When she saw the bandage on his forehead, it led her to the conclusion that it was Hizashi. It was the cursed seal branded on every Hyuuga branch member's forehead. The main members knew the jutsu that used the cursed seal to make the wearer feel pain by destroying their cells.

The first time she heard this, it greatly reminded her of slave treatment in the past. It was inhumane in the sense that no one should have the power to control another's life. But she also understood the need for it – the need to control. If not, everything will go out of hand. Not having the direct power to handle everything was out of the question.

The harsh environment that the clan shinobis experienced began when the Warring States Period came into the picture (but if you asked Ayame, she was inclined to think that everything started when the Sage of the Six Paths distributed his teachings/chakra to everyone). Clans popped out everywhere and the best were identified by some sort of battle royale, where the ones who have a bloodline limit prevailed.

Bloodline limits, or most commonly known as  _Kekkei Genkai_ , were abilities that were solely available to one clan. Ayame guessed that after the first ninjas created the clans, a mutation occurred and the ability was passed down genetically to the current generation. Ayame could go on and on about the possible variables that affected genes but she was not a scientist. Her job in her previous life was  _far from it_ since she studied a business-related course.

But she had read many books and it was enough to create a hypothesis. Furthermore, no one would challenge the intuition of a CEO – she survived the hostile business industry for nothing.

' _My thoughts are straying at an unbelievable rate_ ,' Ayame mused, after she realized she had been staring at nothing for some time.

The Kurosawa girl looked back at the teens talking to each other. Shikaku was lazily explaining why Ayame was outside of the Uzumaki's apartment since non-shinobis were not allowed in a Jōnin apartment building. The group, consisting of Hyuuga Hiashi, Hyuuga Hizashi, Uchiha Mikoto and Akimichi Chōza, was listening intently to him while behind them was an unconscious Namikaze Minato, tended by Yamanaka Inoichi, Uchiha Fugaku, and Uzumaki Kushina. They reminded Ayame of her own group, who were probably at home right now.

The four-year-old girl narrowed her eyes. She had forgotten something important but decided to leave it at the back of her mind.

"So in short, she is another person that Kushina dragged?" Mikoto summarized the Nara's story in one sentence.

Akimichi Chōza popped some chips into his mouth with grace. "You got it wrong, Mikoto-chan. It was like this: Minato was the one  _dragging_ people while Kushina is the one who forces them to stay."

"Seems right," Shikaku said. He slouched further and yawned.

"Anyway, we should go back since the matter is settled." Hyuuga Hiashi's white eyes travelled around then finally landed on Ayame's small figure. "Hiashi and I will leave. See you next time." His twin brother nodded as a goodbye and followed behind Hiashi.

They both passed Ayame and nodded, as a greeting and as a goodbye. She was astonished. The Hyuuga twins were proud people and would not acknowledge anyone. Then she realized they greeted her because it was  _simple manners_ , like how royalty was raised – with grace and etiquette. From what she heard, clan kids were trained from a young age. Aside from developing their skills as a shinobi, they were also required to show dignity, composure, and poise.

"Then we will also excuse ourselves." The Uchiha clan heir stood up from behind Mikoto. He lightly brushed his sleeves and stood straight. The scene would look elegant, if not for Namikaze Minato's dozing figure beside his feet.

Mikoto quickly bid her goodbye to Kushina while nodding to the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi. She patted Minato's head lightly and gave Ayame a small smile. Fugaku, on the other hand, only nodded at Ayame's presence and the two proceeded to depart. The next one to go was Chōza who told them his mother was cooking curry and that they were welcome to eat with him. The people who remained were the lazy Nara, loud Uzumaki, unconscious Namikaze, Kurosawa Ayame and Yamanaka Inoichi.

"Never thought Minato would be the kind to ask for a fight when drunk," Yamanaka deadpanned, staring at the blond on the floor.

Kushina snorted, " _Never_ thought you'd use  _my_  apartment without  _my_ permission."

"Sorry," he immediately apologized. Kushina glared at his response and Inoichi cringed.

The apartment was a complete mess: bottled drinks were everywhere, chips littered the floor and the signs of the fight were in every part of the room. Ayame barely had the chance to see it since the Inoichi was blocking the door. Nevertheless, she knew Kushina would have a hard time cleaning. It could only be described by the Nara's words –  _troublesome_. It amazed her how could people wreck everything  _big time_. She never had the chance to party when she was Arabella; she was holed up in her room during university and too caught up with managing her business that she never socialized with others for enjoyment.

"So…" Inoichi dragged the words while diverting his eyes between Ayame and Kushina. "Is there a need to drag the poor girl in this mess?"

Kushina smirked with fervour and Ayame knew something wasn't right. "Of course. She'll help clean this shit up."

The Red-Hot Habanero dropped a bomb. Ayame was used to doing chores but she was never the one to do it for fun. It could be described as a 'need' more than a 'want'. Thus she had the urge to escape. In the end, Kushina overpowered her. She was forced to clean the place with Inoichi despite their bitterness. It took them some time before the apartment was sparkling because 'the owner' was comfortably lying on the tattered sofa. Meanwhile, Shikaku had escaped to who-knows-where, successfully avoiding the so-called "punishment".

The girl cursed under her breath and blamed the heavens. Kushina didn't seem to realize that Ayame was only  _four years old_  and it was goddamn  _midnight_.

* * *

Kakashi was angry with her for  _god-knows-what reason_.

His animosity started the night she came back from cleaning Kushina's apartment. It was midnight and the streets were silent. The civilians were nowhere to be seen but a few shinobi could be seen once in a while. Hatake Sakumo was cleaning his weapons as usual when she arrived home. She guessed Kakashi was already asleep. The jōnin asked her where she had gone and she had answered truthfully without leaving anything out.

The White Fang was also a little mad at her. Ayame had no idea why. It was obvious that Sakumo was angry – the signs were too apparent. She had seen that pissed off look many times on her professors' face when she was in college. The jōnin narrowed his eyes and was trying his hardest not to place his hands on his hips.

' _Mad? No— he's irritated_?' Ayame's mind was whirring, trying to think of what happened that day to make him go into this state.

After some time, he only heaved a sigh, murmuring about how " _dense she is_." It made her furrow her brows but she obediently returned to her room when she was excused.

The next morning, Hatake Kakashi didn't acknowledge her presence even with all the taunts and jeers she could muster. Ayame complained about how he acted like a child when she realized that  _he was a child_. A string of curses popped up into her mind. She considered giving him space, since she may have done something wrong unconsciously.

Hours turned into days and days turned into a week. Kakashi still didn't speak to her. But Sakumo treated Ayame the same.

"Ayame-chan, could you pass me the coffee?" Sakumo yawned and tried to find a more comfortable position on the couch. "And please turn off the lights. Thank you."

"Sakumo-san, you're getting lazier by the day. Stand up and do those things by yourself." Ayame gave the silver-haired jōnin a condescending look he deserved and continued flipping the pages of the book she was reading.

"But, Ayame-chan, with you here, I could lie on the couch all day and do nothing. I've been on a ton of missions this month and I'm very tired."

"Heard that reason too many times this week. Not gonna fall for it again."

At first, she had considered the request but after a few days, she got tired of the same reason and understood that catering to his need would only make him lazier. There would come a time where the White Fang would reject missions because it was too " _exhausting_ ". Ayame could see them blame her because of what she'd done.

Her foster father diverted the topic. "Have you seen Kakashi?"

"No."

It was a lie. She knew Kakashi had gone out early in the morning and would come back later in the afternoon like he always did. Ayame crossed it out as early rebellion.

Hatake Sakumo only clicked his tongue and sat on the couch. "Ayame," he called the girl without any suffix. "Go outside. Don't come back until you can drag Kakashi back here."

"What—"

But she was kicked out the house because she could reply. Her mind blanked out.

The dango shop still had a queue of customers. Civilians and shinobis alike littered the streets and she could hear children screaming. Ayame glanced at the book at her feet and picked it up. She wiped the dust off and decided to stroll around.

The Kurosawa dived into the crowd of people.


	7. Plans and Exhaustion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by: Crimson Rose Blooms

_"The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow. "_

**Leonardo da Vinci**

* * *

Kakashi leaned on a lamppost as he observed the group with hooded eyes. He felt exhausted and irritated at the same time. Meanwhile, Kurenai was brainstorming with Ibiki, Asuma, Genma, and Raidō, who was holding a lunch box, it contents long gone. They were standing in a vacant lot at the edge of Konoha. Few visited this place and they had decided to make it their meeting place.

"I bet she doesn't even know what the problem is." Kurenai crossed her arms with a knowing smirk on her face.

Ibiki went silent for a moment and slowly nodded his head. "You… have a point."

"Now that you say that, Ayame-chan is the kind of person who's kind of dense about everything not related to shinobi life," Genma added, playing with the senbon in his mouth. "I remember when I told her a boy from my class had a crush on her."

Kakashi almost fell from the sudden jolt of surprise. He immediately composed himself and loosened the green scarf on his neck.

"What happened?" Kurenai asked, full of curiosity. The others also moved closer to listen with Kakashi being the only exception.

Genma blinked a few times at the sudden attention he received. "She waved it off and told me I was imagining things."

"That's what I thought she'd do. I knew it would be nothing yet I expected something to happen.  _Damn it_." Asuma did not hide his disappointment and groaned.

The others nodded. They expected something dramatic, like Ayame falling in love or even just having a crush. They wondered if that was a possibility since both Kakashi and Ayame were quite the celebrities.

Unknown to Ayame, she was, in actuality, popular in the Academy and had gathered a number of avid fans. The group had known after befriending her. If they could create a popularity poll in the school, Kakashi would be on top and next to him would be Ayame. The brother and sister pair had been creating trouble beyond their knowledge.

Their admirers had the habit of fighting each other. Hostility reached a point where they would fight after class since Kakashi's fans usually bullied Ayame. Kakashi's fans would wait outside the Academy grounds for Ayame's fans and chaos would ensue. The two children had no idea about the trouble they were creating since their fans waited until the two had gone home.

Kakashi's fans were crazy girls that had the tendency to turn into a wild animal once you criticized the silver-haired chibi, while Ayame's admirers were varied in gender and age. If you were to compare them, the former were  _child psychos_  and the latter  _responsible adults_.

"Getting back to the topic –" Kurenai halted when she noticed Raidō's hands were behind his back. The boy flinched under her stare and showed his two hand, holding dangos. " _Goddamn it_ , Raidō. You're not an Akimichi. You can't use your fat as excess chakra. Don't eat as a hobby,  _for god's sake_. No one is willing to drag your fat ass out of the battlefield when you're incapacitated."

"But we're not in battle—"

"Did you say something?" She glared at Raidō with her red eyes.

Genma, who was beside Raidō, patted his shoulder in a mild manner and confiscated the dango. It was done smoothly like the many times before; Raido was so persistent on sneaking snacks under Kurenai's watch. Asuma consoled Raido. He wanted to help but Kurenai had a point.

"Going back," Kurenai continued, "What can we do about Kakashi's situation?"

Contrary to Kakashi's belief, the group had noticed that he was avoiding his foster sister. At first, they were not bothered. They thought of it was Kakashi's way of asking for comfort  _but after a whole week_  they could not stand and watch. Rather, it was  _Kurenai_  who did not want to be on the side-lines.

If Ayame saw them, she would think they were making a fuss over nothing.

Earlier that morning, Asuma and Ibiki kidnapped the silver-haired chibi on his daily walk around Konoha. They dragged him to the vacant lot and forced him to confess. In the process, Kakashi found out how proficient Kurenai was in her genjutsu and he did not want to experience it again.

To be frank, the whole group was concerned. Kakashi rarely did something out of character; he was a composed young boy even at a young age (another reason for his increasing number of fans). Furthermore, he was a smart child and doing something as idiotic as ignoring his foster sister that was  _living in the same house_  rang alarm bells.

So they forced Kakashi to tell them what happened.

In a nutshell, Kakashi was being sensitive for the first time and Ayame didn't understand – that was what Kurenai thought after hearing the story. Kurenai wanted to laugh out loud but knew it would make matters worse. The problem was only one-sided.

Kakashi stood silently. That day, he panicked because it was already midnight and his foster sister was still not home. Sakumo had told him to calm down but he knew Ayame was someone who could not keep track of time, especially if she was immersed in something that interested her. He wanted to turn Konoha upside down just to find her because he was so  _worried_  even if he did not admit it.

When Ayame returned she didn't even bother to tell him where she had gone. The next day, it was like nothing had happened and he was rather upset. He thought Ayame would know what the problem was if he ignored her but she was really an  _idiot_. He could only bury his face in his hands and think about what to do next.

Thankfully, Yūhi Kurenai couldn't keep to herself and decided to help.

"Maybe we should drag her here to explain?" Asuma suggested, out of ideas.

Ibiki scoffed, "I'm pretty sure she knows what's up but thinks that it's not that big of a problem."

"You know, I think we should talk to Kakashi-kun instead of trying to talk to Ayame-chan," Kurenai informed the group. She raised one of her eyebrows at the lone silver-haired boy under the lamppost. "Because, you know, if you just talk to Ayame-chan then you wouldn't have a problem in the first place!"

"Yeah, you're acting like a child," Raidō added with annoyance.

"I am a child,  _dumbass_ ," Kakashi reflexively replied, head bowed. He could not raise his head to look at Kurenai's triumphant look. He knew that what they said was right but he could not make himself talk to his foster sister. It was awkward for him, if not for both.

Asuma silently observed his friend and decided to interfere. "Perhaps we should plan this out?"

Genma pursed his lips while he removed the senbon from his mouth. "You have a plan?"

"I do." Instead of Asuma, Ibiki was the one who surprisingly answered his question. They all turned to him as he showed a small smile.

* * *

Ayame jumped off the wall with a huff. She had run around Konoha's walls to find a familiar silver-haired chibi but failed. What she got for her effort was exhaustion and an extra person she had not asked for.

"IS THIS THE WAY YOU SPEND YOUR YOUTH, AYAME-CHAN! AS EXPECTED OF MY RIVAL'S SISTER!"

Might Guy, who she found while searching for Kakashi, decided to accompany her when Ayame told him she wanted to run around Konoha. The energetic boy decided to raise it up a notch by suggesting he sprint using his hands. Ayame thought it would be unfair if she did not expend the same effort as Guy so she announced that she would dash on the walls using chakra.

She regretted her decision but would not tell Guy in case he blamed himself. As a medic, she knew the definition of chakra exhaustion and she was  _definitely_  feeling it now. Unlike physical exhaustion, exhausting chakra would cause twice the pain since both  _spiritual_  and  _physical_  energy were drained. In worst case scenarios, it could lead to death.

"Guy, could you try to lower down your voice?" Ayame dizzily found her balance. Her hair was messed up and so were her clothes. "It's starting to destroy my eardrums and we're gathering unwanted attention."

"BUT AYAME-CHAN—"

Ayame wanted to heal her fatigue with chakra but there was none left. She could place pressure on her acupuncture points and hope for the best. "Lower… your voice."

Ayame was worn-out, and Guy's loud voice was of no help.

"I understand!" The bushy-browed boy's eyes showed concern when he noticed how she was having a hard time breathing. They had run for a mile now and he had no problem with sprinting with his hands. He did not understand why she was panting exaggeratedly after running such a short distance.

She wanted to tell him what the problem was but breathing was becoming difficult. Fortunately, they landed in a place where people were scarce, and only a few had seen her sorry state. Unfortunately, there were no shinobi nearby who could rush her to the hospital. The girl could only tough it up and rely on Might Guy.

"Guy—" Ayame had only spoken one syllable when she heard the boy's loud reply.

"What is it, Ayame-chan!" It was no question. If the four-year-old girl could imagine Guy's words written on paper; it would be full of exclamation points.

"—can you… whisper?" The purple-haired girl's heart slowed down while it constricted on its own. If she could turn back time she would never suggest walking on the walls with her measly chakra reserves.

"Is this alright?" he replied, using a normal voice. Ayame did not know if she should cry out of gratitude or cry because she was sure she was going to die. Although experiencing another death was no big deal, she was sure that Kakashi would curse her to death if she actually died because of chakra exhaustion.

The girl could also see how the White Fang would scold her once she met him in the afterlife.

They were standing in the middle of the street. The few civilians were staring weirdly at the boy beside her. She guessed it was because of his get-up and promised herself to teach Guy how to colour-coordinate if she got out alive. Ayame would have laughed but she needed to regain her strength.

"Ayame-chan?" A voice called from afar.

She knew that voice; it was the same energetic voice that used to bother her in the orphanage. Ayame blinked a few times before her dizziness cleared. Her eyes landed on a smiling face, tousled brown hair and greasy cheeks.

Ayame returned the boy's smile. "Toshiyuki-kun."

The Academy was large but that was not the reason why she never encountered Toshiyuki – it was simply because she was avoiding him. Ayame knew that the chances of a civilian child from the shelter graduating from the Academy were scarily low. Even if they graduated, by some stroke of luck, they would be a part of Genin Corps at best. Attaining the rank of a chūnin would only be a distant dream.

"I've seen you around the Academy, but I didn't have the chance to talk to you, Ayame-chan. How are you?" Toshiyuki smiled at her with a full set of front row teeth.

Guy tilted his head. He had seen the boy a few times at the Academy but Toshiyuki associated himself with many people. That was why he never tried talking to him despite his friendliness – Guy was not fond of crowds. In addition, his father told him to never befriend shady people and Toshiyuki had this  _creepy_  aura around him. After musing for a short time, he realized that he would choose Kakashi – his  _amazing_  rival – over Toshiyuki any time.

Ayame was distracted by Toshiyuki's bright smile when Guy called her. "Ayame-chan?"

Ayame realised Guy had whispered without her reprimanding him. She was about to reply when Toshiyuki intervened.

"Ah, is that Might- _san_?" the brown-haired boy emphasized the last syllable.

Ayame narrowed her eyes. Toshiyuki never called anyone by their last name, being the social butterfly that he was. What's more, the boy never referred to any child his age using 'san' and it made her suspicious. Her intuition told her the situation was not good. It had never failed her when she was Arabella and she knew it wouldn't forsake her now.

"Ah, right." Ayame began with a lazy wave. "It was great to see you again, Toshiyuki-kun. Really, really great. But we're trying to find someone so we will excuse ourselves."

Guy, with all his might, tried to prevent himself from asking 'WHO ARE WE TRYING TO FIND AYAME-CHAN?!' and settled for a confused expression. Ayame had forgotten to tell him that she was trying to find the missing Kakashi. She was grateful that the loud-mouthed boy did not voice his concern and followed her as she left.

They did not hear Toshiyuki's farewell. Ayame had no intention to listen to it anyway.

* * *

The citizens of Konoha would be amused if they knew that their much-adored White Fang wanted to bash his head against a wall out of frustration. It had not even been half a day and he realized it was a large mistake to force his foster daughter to reconcile with his son. The jonin was lounging in the living room enjoying his free time when a messenger Genin appeared at his doorstep.

The Genin told him that his foster daughter, Kurosawa Ayame, was hospitalized because of chakra exhaustion.

"What I don't understand," he started, his left eye visibly twitching, "Is how a four-year-old could –"

"I'll be five years old in two and a half weeks."

"– experience chakra exhaustion," Sakumo sighed. He did not know how to feel. It was the first time in Konohagakure's history a mere four-year-old was hospitalized for something big like chakra exhaustion. It was commonly experienced by chūnin and jonin in life-or-death missions.

And now a _four-year-old_ … Hatake Sakumo would never get over it.

"YOU SHOULD NOT BLAME HER, SAKUMO-SAN!" Guy bellowed beside the hospital bed. "SHE WAS SPENDING HER YOUTH MEANINGFULLY!"

The White Fang pursed his lips. "You should go home, Guy-kun. And please say hi to your father for me." Then he sat on a chair while contemplating what to do.

Ayame felt sorry for her foster father. It was not her goal to make him worried or stressed. On the other hand, the experience was enlightening – she'd never had asthma but there was no doubt that was how a few asthmatic individuals felt.

Before the girl had realized it, Might Guy had left. She was at loss on what to do since usually he was so loud (and ran all over the place destroying vases, making the nurses around scream louder) and would ask her questions non-stop. Ayame had never found it boring; it was like having a television at full volume constantly. Even though she felt like her ears were now impaired, it was a good distraction inside the silent dull hospital.

Sakumo's gaze landed on Ayame's little body above the hospital bed. "You're grounded."

The Kurosawa girl wanted to retort that she never wanted to go out in the first place. It was her dear  _foster father_  who kicked her out. If she had a choice, she would never be with people she considered a drag. There was a particular luxury in silence after all. It dawned on her after constant paperwork, job meetings, and arduous graduation speeches.

As Arabella, she used to give speeches directed to different kind of individuals with the aim of inspiring them. But to be frank, she wanted to discourage them, given that some of them would turn into competition later on.

It was like training your own enemy; the disadvantages were all on you.

The White Fang stared at her blankly. " _Wait_ — you never go outside of the house to begin with." The man widened his eyes with the sudden insight.

Ayame felt that there was a need to congratulate Sakumo but held back. "Surprise, surprise," she replied with a small smile behind her mask.

"You're getting more sarcastic by the day," he deadpanned, his hand combing his spiky hair.

Ayame only shrugged. She glanced out the window and thought it would be nice if she could get out as soon as possible. However, it would be hard to escape seeing that the nurses would restrain her if she tried. Most of them had the ability to strangle a bear with pure strength so she wouldn't tried her luck.

Her foster father left after an hour. A messenger genin arrived to inform him that the Hokage needed his presence. Ayame was all by herself once again. While alone, she tried to think of possible ways to entertain herself. There were no books or any type of reading material. The room was plain white and it made her drowsy so she ended up doing all sorts of things.

By the time she found out that she could walk on her two hands, balance herself using her head, braid her hair in numerous styles, peel the paint off the wall and wiggle her ear, the door opened.

A dark-haired boy wearing orange goggles peeked inside the room. His black eyes scanned the area and he froze when he saw Ayame. He blinked his eyes a few times, his spiky hair bounced as he did so. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes in desperation.

"Do you need something?" she asked with an indifferent expression.

The boy seemed awfully familiar.

He panicked when he heard her voice. It took a while before he replied, " _Eto_ … I entered the wrong room?"

"Is that so?"

"I really entered the wrong room!" he hastily replied and immediately closed the door.

The scene left Ayame pondering on why the boy felt there was a need to defend himself.

Before sunset, Kurenai arrived with Ibiki, Genma, Asuma and Raidō. The red-eyed girl had an amazed look on her face while Genma was wearing an incredulous one. Asuma was behind, heaving a sigh while Raidō was indifferent and nibbling on his bland crackers. Ayame raised one of her eyebrows as she watched the group enter the room.

"You managed to land yourself in the hospital?" Genma snorted with mirth in his eyes. It hadn't even been a full 24 hours since he last saw her. "The last time I was hospitalized was when I was born."

Kurenai sneered, "You remember?"

"Of course! I even remember the time when I was in my mother's womb."

Behind him, Asuma snickered and Raidō smiled. The future genjutsu mistress only rolled her eyes and coughed, clearing her throat. "Soooo," she dragged, "Why are you here, Kuro- _san_?"

Ayame slowly shook her head at the new nickname. It was coined from her surname "Kurosawa", where ' _Kuro_ ' means black. She did not know if Kurenai wanted to call her black-hearted or just wanted to shorten her name.

"Chakra exhaustion," she nonchalantly replied while she watched her friends find their seats.

Asuma blanked out for a moment, his eyes staring at his hospitalized friend. "Chakra… exhaustion?" It took a long time before the words he absorbed it. "You— _you_  exhausted your  _chakra_?"

Kurenai had no knowledge of this subject. She never knew what chakra exhaustion entailed so she was a little annoyed that Asuma did not explain.

Raidō decided to ask once he finished his crackers. "Now that I think about it, I remember our Academy instructor told us about it, right?"

"From what I can recall, he told us only jōnins and chūnins experienced chakra exhaustion," Genma furrowed his brows while muttering in a low voice.

The red-eyed girl felt left out of the conversation and with a cough, she decided to go straight to the point. "Asuma, just tell us what 'chakra exhaustion'  _means_."

Asuma smiled at the girl's impatience. "Chakra exhaustion simply meant exhaustion of chakra. Now from what I heard from Orochimaru-san, if someone exhausts their chakra, they would feel exhausted and out of breath. However, if someone completely depletes their chakra, it would mean  _death_."

The atmosphere around them turned stale in a matter of seconds. Death was a touchy subject for anyone who would want to be a shinobi. They came to terms with it at an early age, given that war never gave people the chance to glamorize losing a life. It was nothing like what Ayame had experienced: dead people would go to heaven, the souls of the dead would be relieved of the burden of life, and God would grant them eternal life. In the shinobi world, death simply meant the end. No other meaning – zero, zip, zilch, nothing, nada.

In war time, a shinobi's life could only be categorized into three different kinds of fate: incredibly lucky, lucky and not lucky.

If a ninja was incredibly lucky, then they would survive the war. If they were lucky, then they would be fortunate enough to keep their body  _whole_  and in good condition – albeit without a life. The only thing that the family of the dead would have is a lifeless body. There would be no inspirational eulogy about their heroic past or seven days of mourning. Then it would be buried straight away to prevent the corpses from piling up. If a shinobi was not lucky then the family would not have a chance to see the body.

Such was Ayame's case, where her parent's bodies were not even retrieved.

The four-year-old understood that her near death exhibition was not a simple case. So when Kurenai stood up, grabbed the nearby pillow and smashed it into her face with full force, she did not complain. Thankfully, the rest settled on watching and never attempted to join the fray. Unfortunately, that did not mean that the group was willing to stop the rampaging future genjutsu mistress.

The pillow fight ended after a few minutes with Kurenai gasping for her breath and Ayame in a defensive position. The red-eyed girl giggled and loudly heaved a sigh of relief as she sat beside the Kurosawa girl on the hospital bed. She became scared the moment the word ' _death_ ' escaped Asuma's mouth. Ayame understood: death was a terrifying topic for anyone, much more to a  _child_.

From her perspective, she was not that worried about chakra exhaustion since she knew her limits. Furthermore, she had experienced death once and even though an additional one was not welcome, she could deal with it. In any case, she would never tell the group that the weights on her feet contained chakra (the more chakra you add on the weights, the more it would become heavier) and she could use it if she found herself in dire straits.

The group stayed for a while longer before they bid their goodbyes. Genma and Raidō told her they would visit tomorrow. Kurenai had to visit her cousins, Asuma was tasked to train by his father and Ibiki was helping with chores. Ayame nodded and asked them to bring her books if they happen to pass by.

Kurenai rolled her eyes at her friend and dragged the others out of room to give the girl some rest.

* * *

"I told you to never visit me when I'm in the hospital, Obito," Rin huffed in faux disappointment while her eyes glanced at the dark-haired boy. A smile formed on her face.

"But when I asked Kyoko-san where you are, she said you're in the hospital! There was  _urgency_  in her voice so I thought…" The Uchiha suddenly became interested in the ground. He scratched the back of his head with a sorry expression.

They were at the back of the hospital. They could not discuss inside since Obito had the tendency to shout. He would disturb the rest of the patients and they didn't want to be screamed at by irritated nurses.

Nohara Rin pursed her lips while she listened to the boy's story. Their Academy instructor, Kyoko-san, was pregnant and would be on maternity leave soon. From what she learned, pregnant women have sudden emotional changes. She was probably exaggerating.

But Obito felt guilty. Only one girl could endure his enthusiasm and that was Rin. She was one of the first to acknowledge him as a shinobi. She soon became his best friend and told him that one day he would become Hokage. It was his lifelong dream after all and Rin always supported him and even hoped to be beside him should it happen.

"Which rooms did you intrude this time?"

Obito grimaced when he tried to recall the room he hastily entered. "Ano… room 2234, 2235, 2236—"

Rin had to blink a few times after hearing the room numbers and abruptly interrupted him. "Did you just  _say_  room 2236?"

"—I did?" The Uchiha was puzzled. He was just reciting the room number by memory and now the girl appeared a little incredulous.

Rin ran her fingers through her hair. Earlier, Rin's aunt, a nurse, had told her that Kurosawa Ayame had been hospitalised due to chakra exhaustion. She had kept her room number in mind so she could visit her. Ayame had left quite a favourable impression on Rin so there was no way she would forget her.

Along with Hatake Kakashi, Ayame was one of the model students that they looked up to. The silver-haired boy was famous because of his the aptitude in everything. Conversely, the Kurosawa was admired because of her prowess in academics, even though she was also good in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. Both of them wore a mask over their face and the mysteriousness actually increased their popularity.

Naturally, Rin was also at an age where she would admire someone. Rin,  _in fact_ , had a growing adoration for the silver-haired chibi since day one.

"Did you see someone you recognised?" A grin appeared on Rin's face, the marks on her cheeks moving as she did.

"I did see Kurosawa-san," he replied, not really sure of his answer.

He doubted his eyes when he barged into her room. He recognised Ayame at first sight but couldn't believe it. He knew she was somewhat famous from her growing fan-base but had never met her until he saw her in a verbal fight with Kakashi.

Obito's one-sided rivalry with Kakashi was one of the reasons he wanted to be the Hokage. Kakashi was so full of himself that Obito wanted to beat the crap out of him. He hated people who looked down on others – he would rather choose someone like Might Guy as a friend.

When he was punished to run around the school grounds, he saw a familiar group in the distance. They were known for being loners. The two famous geniuses, Hatake Kakashi and Kurosawa Ayame were part of this group. Incidentally, a prodigy in genjutsu and the Hokage's son was also in it, Yūhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma. As was Morino Ibiki, who had an aptitude for taijutsu. An upperclassman that was treated like a celebrity named Shiranui Genma recently joined the team along with his friend, Namiashi Raidō nicknamed ' _glutton_ '.

When he got a better look, Ayame and Kakashi were fighting. He had already forgotten what fight is about but the emotions he witnessed were vivid.

It was widely known fact that Hatake Kakashi was an uncultured swine who didn't waste time by being polite – or that was what Obito wanted to think. That was why even children in the other years had to think twice before creating a skirmish with him.

That was why Obito felt awed when he saw Kurosawa Ayame spar with the White Fang's son. They would taunt each other from time to time with harsh words. Even Obito would have the urge to cry if he was verbally assaulted by Hatake Kakashi. Ayame spouted neither personal nor disrespectful words however she still hit where it hurts. Obito mentally noted to never clash with her.

The memories sent shivers down his spine. "Rin-chan, are you… familiar with Kurosawa-san?"

"No." The reply was instantaneous. "But you're aware I'm part of her group, right?"

"Now that you mention it, why did you join her group if you're so  _lovesick with the Hatake boy_?" The last part was muttered in a whisper that it made Rin furrow her brows in confusion.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"Nothing!" Obito beamed at her, so much that it made the girl with the purple marks on her cheeks dazzled by the light.

"To answer your question," she sighed, "It was because the girls in Kakashi's group were too  _scary_  to be with."

The children in her year were all good-mannered but she was afraid of the senpais. Those older girls that created a faction dedicated to Hatake Kakashi were too obsessed. They would attack any girl that admired him – excluding the members. In the end, she decided to join Ayame's fan club since they were  _strangely_  in search for peace.

It made Rin think that the factions inside the Academy were not about shinobis anymore. It was not even about the people they admired. Kakashi's fans were too outrageous while Ayame's were a group of smart-alecks: the contrast was so great that she had to choose the latter or she felt she would get infected by idiots.

Rin was  _still_  the sweet and friendly girl everyone knew but the situation forced her to think for the better. She glanced at the boy before her. Obito was too good-natured and an optimist at heart – that made him a victim in many cases. She recalled when Obito was fooled by merchants. They forced him into labour (she did not even know if it was really forced, given that he was too willing to help) without him knowing.

She needed to be the tough one since Obito could not. Rin needed to protect the ball of sunshine even if everyone thought he was very un-Uchiha.

What Rin never expected was that she and Obito were thinking the same thing.

"You want dango?" Rin smiled sweetly while waiting for him to answer.

Obito's black eyes glistened under the sun. "Let's go!"


	8. Masks and the Black-ops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by: Crimson Rose Blooms

" _Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it."_  
 **Mark Twain**

* * *

On the night of the second day Ayame was hospitalized, the girl realized how peaceful and silent it was and never wanted to leave.

The purple-haired girl had confined herself in her hospital room with the books her friends had brought her. Sakumo felt it was inappropriate and forced her to ' _see the sun_ ' but the four-year-old did not really want to see it or care for it. The silver-haired jōnin gave up just before he was called by a mysterious masked ANBU that only conversed with hand signals. The rest of the day was spent reading when someone climbed to the window and disturbed her.

"Maa, you are an  _idiot,_  aren't you?" Kakashi jumped off the window and gazed at her with a questioning look.

Ayame glanced back at the book she was reading and nonchalantly replied, "You want to learn something new?"

"What is it?"

"The door can be used as an  _entrance_ and an  _exit_."

The Kurosawa girl raised her head to find Kakashi in front of her and almost reflexively smashed the book she was holding at him. Thankfully, she managed to control her actions or the book would have been destroyed – the books in Konoha were surprisingly delicate. The girl would regret it if her only source of entertainment was destroyed because of her petty nature.

Kakashi's scarf was hastily attached to his neck and his mask was slightly askew. He had finally visited his foster sister after contemplating a long time. Yesterday, he was too undecided and did not visit her. The silver-haired chibi felt all his worries were for nothing after seeing the girl had the time to tease him. A smile appeared on his lips and he had the urge to shake his head.

The four-year-old girl closed her book and mentally noted the page she was at. "Since you're here, go back to the house and brew me coffee."

"Coffee?" The chibi raised one of his eyebrows at his foster sister's words and sat on Ayame's hospital bed.

"Yes, you heard it right. You don't need to repeat it—"

Realization hit her. She had replied on pure reflex. Those were the exact same words for her usual orders to her secretary in her previous life.

Ayame glanced back at the silver-haired boy who did not even flinch at her authoritative tone. It was habit. Back then, she was a little irritated at her secretary because she was repeating things she had just said. She perfectly understood that it was for confirmation but after a full day of stress, she had already thrown the formalities out of the window.

Sighing softly, Ayame continued, "The nurses in here refused to give me coffee and I badly need it."

The Hatake only bobbed his head to the right, a little disoriented. "Did they tell you the reason?"

"Nope."

It was a lie of course. She knew full well that children were not advised to drink coffee until they were old enough. But she had a habit of drinking once she finished a book and old habits die hard.

It was not her first time confined to a hospital and, if the times she was rushed to the ER in her past life counted, she could say she was already a seasoned veteran. Contrary to other people's opinion, Ayame liked the smell of the place. She dreamt of being a doctor in her childhood. If she had pursued her dream, she would have spent her days in a place that smelt of antiseptic. But life played a prank and instead of working inside of it, Arabella became confined inside it.

Remembering her previous life's name, a wave of nostalgia washed over her.

Ayame had also accepted the fact she and Arabella were two different individuals. It took her years and the process was slow, but it was nevertheless an accomplishment. Her two memories had finally found harmony and she could confidently announce that she  _died_  in her past life and reincarnated into a new one. Of course she would not do it; the people of the Naruto-verse would consider her a lunatic and there was a large possibility of a Yamanaka knocking on her door.

Kakashi, in contrast, was silently watching the girl without anything important going through his mind. He was seated in front of her and deliberating if he should ask her how to brew coffee. The boy had no idea and his father was not home. It was understandable. After all, it was Ayame who was doing  _everything_ inside the Hatake household while the silver-haired boy was busy training.

When Sakumo told him that Ayame was hospitalized, he had just gone home after meeting the group in the abandoned lot. It was a shock to find out that Ayame was confined for chakra exhaustion and not minor at that. The first thing he thought was how  _idiotic_ she was and how she even managed to get herself into that kind of situation. After a while, he realized it was his  _foster sister_ that he was talking about and she could create life-threatening mistakes without even blinking.

Kakashi never knew how to curse but at that time he wished he knew how.

Asuma and Ibiki, after visiting the four-year-old girl, told him the details of her hospitalization. The silver-haired boy  _knew_ that one day Ayame would find herself in hospital because of chakra exhaustion. She had a habit of exhausting herself. The girl might not know this but Kakashi was silently criticizing how she trained but in the end, deemed it was not important since it was her  _own_ body.

_But_ what Kakashi never expected was for Ayame to stretch her pain tolerance and exhaust herself to death.

Ayame was hugging a pillow and looking at him with blank eyes. The boy was taken aback by her actions. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I realized something." Ayame threw the pillow at him with sluggish movements. It made avoiding easy – the silver-haired chibi just had to lean to the right.

"Please…" Kakashi began to cringe. "Don't speak. I can feel the idiocy coming out from your mouth already."

Ayame never knew Kakashi's impression of her was so bad. She decided to ignore his opinion. "You're handsome, Kakashi—"

The Hatake did not know how to react to her words and was in a daze for a moment. He was used to everyone giving him compliments but no one had ever used the word ' _handsome_ ' to describe him. Most of the people called him cute.

"—with your mask on."

Ayame felt a sense of accomplishment. If Kakashi could see her face, he would see the self-satisfied smile plastered on her face.

"So never remove your mask. You get me? I don't want to see your face without your mask hiding it."

Kakashi wanted to strangle her then and there. He was  _fooled_  and the word humiliation was written on his face. On the other hand, the four-year-old girl originally meant well. She wanted to say that the boy was handsome but in the middle of saying it, she realized it was a good chance to spite him. It was a good thing she did since she felt unreasonably  _smug_.

The chibi gritted his teeth, grabbed the pillow beside him and tried to smash it on his foster sister's face. Ayame was still agile although a bit tired. She had also gathered a decent amount of chakra after resting for two consecutive days so she easily dodged the pillow. She jumped off the bed and rushed out the door.

"Why didn't you die?" the boy managed to reply with an indifferent voice but the purple-haired girl knew he was  _pissed_ beyond belief. "You should have depleted your chakra completely so Konoha would have one less  _idiot_."

"Sorry to burst your bubble but idiots pop out from time to time so killing me would not be the right solution. And I must inform you," she clicked her tongue as her hand released a small amount of chakra, "If I would die, I would still be smirking in satisfaction at the fact that I, Kurosawa Ayame, deftly  _one-upped_  you."

Their fight was definitely childish (in her defence, she was still a  _child_ ) but she could not miss the chance to make thefuture copy-nin flustered. She could use it as blackmail if Kakashi ever tried to threaten her in the future. In any case, Kakashi was now talking to her and was already done with his rebellious phase.

A chakra scalpel formed in Ayame's hand. She threw it at the Hatake chibi. Kakashi felt danger and on impulse used the pillow he was about to throw as a shield. The scalpel travelled through the air and in no time struck the pillow. The silver-haired boy checked it in an instant and was indifferent at the disappearing scalpel made of chakra.

"A chakra knife?"

"Chakra  _scalpel_ ," she corrected as she waved her hand. The chakra disintegrated faster and the blade disappeared immediately.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose and appeared exhausted suddenly. "You  _used_  chakra but you're still confined for chakra  _exhaustion_. Aren't you the smartest?"

Ayame, while bored out of her mind after reading a couple of books, had a sudden insight. She could control chakra well and if she got much better, couldn't she materialize things other than  _measly_  chakra strings? To check her hypothesis, she checked if her chakra reserves were enough and found them the right amount for one try – and she failed.

That was yesterday after the group left. Earlier that morning, she tried again and had concentrated much more. It had taken her a whole day before she managed to form one scalpel that could not be used to cut vegetables. Because of this, her chakra reserves were restoring at a slower rate. But Ayame was satisfied with the result and resumed her reading.

"Aren't you the ugliest?" the girl nonchalantly replied as she gave the boy an unimpressed look.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, a smirk forming. "Are you talking about yourself?"

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen adjusted his haori hat and focused his attention on the pregnant academy instructor in front of him. It was morning when the woman requested an audience with him and he had an idea of what she wanted to talk about.

"Adachi Kyoko, I wanted to tell you," the Hokage tapped the edge of his pipe on the tray, "But from what I can see, you're already aware."

"Hokage-sama, as much as I want to guide the students, I need my maternity leave," Kyoko pursed her lips and her hands trembled.

Hiruzen sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't want to force you, but please think twice."

It was a pleasure for Kyoko to work as an Academy instructor even if there were  _stubborn_  students like Uchiha Obito. The only thing that hindered her from dedicating herself from her job was her pregnancy. If she knew it would be an issue, she would not get herself pregnant.

"I… I'm really sorry, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage placed the pipe in his mouth and inhaled. While nodding ruefully he said, "Then I wish for your good health."

The woman bowed her head and with the large bump on her belly, she slowly departed. Hiruzen would have to resolve this without one of his trusted academy instructors. It was because of the case of growing number of children getting abducted on Konohagakure's premises. It became so out of hand that the families with missing children were sending in missions with the task of finding out what happened.

They wanted to know if their children were safe. However, even the Hokage, who had the highest authority, had no idea what the hell was happening.

To prevent the case from worsening, he decided to order the academy instructors to strictly watch the students even if they were not in class. It was a defensive measure to lessen the abductions but now, he was short of one academy instructor.

"Wolf," Hiruzen called out from nowhere.

A man appeared from thin air. His silver spiky hair was a trait that Hiruzen could not forget while the porcelain mask told him that he was not a comrade but a black-ops agent. There was a tattoo on his right arm symbolizing that he was a part of ANBU.

"Hokage-sama."

The third Hokage's gaze landed on the kneeling silver-haired man before him. "This is a direct order. Gather your team and find my two students."

"Could I ask whether you have ways to persuade them?"

"With or without, both of them will come back without complaint." Hiruzen's eyes crinkled, his hands reaching for the pipe on his mouth and blew. Smoke scattered inside the room as the ANBU coughed.

Like everyone, Hiruzen Sarutobi had once been a  _jonin-sensei_ and he enjoyed every moment of it. Now, two of his three students were outside of the village while the one who was left was so focused on his research that he refused the seat of the Jonin Commander. The Hokage's three students were the Densetsu no Sannin that were hailed during the Second Shinobi World War.

One of the Sannins was Orochimaru who Hiruzen considered the brightest. He was the most talented shinobi he had seen. The boy had good prospects and ambition – although his views were quite twisted and not fit for average people. Nevertheless, the Third Hokage still gave him the summoning scroll and taught him the summoning technique.

Senju Tsunade was the only woman in the group and with her medic skills, strength and will, she had also shown a great aptitude for leadership. She had contributed many things to her field, which was medicine. Hiruzen could clearly see that the girl was a Senju. However, after the death of her best friend,  _Kurosawa Ai_ , she left the village with only one bag in hand.

The Third Hokage guessed it was Tsunade's departure that made Jiraiya travel the world in search for " _knowledge_ ". The boy had a pretty obvious affection for the Senju. On the other hand, it was a good thing because after the white-haired boy's departure, Hiruzen found out he had set up a large spy network.

"Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage's eyes darted back to the silver-haired ANBU. He was lost in thought and forgot he was in the middle of something. With a sigh, Hiruzen continued to give orders. Wolf nodded and disappeared into thin air like when he appeared.

Hiruzen, after the ANBU's departure, found himself immersed in paperwork.

* * *

"Kushina, calm—"

"Tell me how I could calm down 'ttebane! This child— how could — I'm seriously mad!"

Two days had passed after Ayame's hospitalization and she found herself yet in another ruckus she did not volunteer for. Somehow, the Red-Hot Habanero obtained information about her hospitalization. Ayame discovered the raging lady with her blond companion in front of the Hatake home.

"What's happening, Kushina-san?" she nonchalantly greeted.

Kushina's red hair was floating behind her. With her hands clenched, she managed to reply, "I found out you were hospitalized for chakra exhaustion 'ttebane!"

"That was—"

The blond behind the Uzumaki did not even think twice before interjecting. "This was the girl Teuchi was talking about?! The one who exhausted her chakra?!"

It was pure guess work before, but now the four-year-old girl was sure the blond teen was Namikaze Minato. Ayame wanted to avoid guessing who was who while in the Naruto-verse, but the signs were too obvious. A  _blond_ companion that was with  _Uzumaki Kushina_? It would be Naruto's father, no doubt.

While cleaning the Uzumaki's house, he had seen the Yellow Flash's face but never tried to remember his features. The  _legend_  was drunk and Ayame did not want to ruin Minato's cool image in her mind. On the other hand, now that she was seeing the blond real time, the four-year-old girl wanted to forget the creeping memory that the man would die in the future along with Kushina.

On the contrary, the red-haired teen was not mad. The Uzumaki was more worried than angry. Ayame was a little sister she never had. To know that she was confined because she exhausted her chakra was alarming. Kushina did not know how chakra exhaustion felt, given the endless supply of chakra inside her in the form of a  _bijuu,_  but she knew it must have hurt.

"Maybe we should talk while eating ramen, Kushina-san," Ayame suggested after closing the door behind her. Even though there was a mask on her face, she felt bare going outside.

Kushina visibly calmed down after hearing her words. "Alright, 'ttebane."

The Yellow Flash was surprised by how things ended. The teen had been with the Uzumaki since academy days and he knew the red-haired girl was hard to calm down after being angered. To witness how fast a four-year-old solved the situation, Minato had to praise Ayame mentally.

They arrived at the ramen stand, to which Teuchi greeted them enthusiastically. The three of them sat down and ordered a bowl, excluding the Uzumaki who ordered a dozen. Ayame observed how calmly Minato reacted at Kushina's appetite and smiled behind her mask.

Kushina pointed her chopsticks at the four-year-old girl as she raised her eyebrows. "Now, tell me what the hell you did, 'ttebane."

"I ran around the Konoha's wall."

Ayame skillfully split her chopsticks. After seeing it was separated perfectly, she proceeded to eat her ramen.

The Yellow Flash saw what she did with her chopsticks and blinked a few times. Copying what Ayame did, Minato was amazed how the disposable chopsticks split flawlessly.

"You wouldn't get chakra exhausted by  _just_ running around, Ayame-chan."

On the way to the ramen stand, the Yellow Flash managed to get to know the girl better and finally realized what the Uzumaki meant when she says that the child was ' _amusing_ ' to be with. The Kurosawa girl had a dark sense of humor that somehow coincided with his humor. It was  _funny,_  but Minato would never admit it.

Kushina nodded, agreeing with his words. "Right," she muttered while slurping.

"It was because I  _literally_ ran while attached to the walls." The four-year-old girl glanced at Minato who had mirth in his eyes. "Used chakra to stick my feet and found out that chakra exhaustion  _hurts_ the hard way."

The Uzumaki froze, her hands holding the chopsticks with noodles in the air. "I don't know, 'ttebane. But I have the urge to say ' _brilliant'_  and I have no idea why."

Minato faintly raised his eyebrows at the red-haired's words. He glanced at Ayame suspiciously then spoke, "Kushina, I think you're getting badly influenced."

Kushina, seeing that he was disagreeing with her change of attitude, smiled ruefully. "Too bad, 'ttebane." The Uzumaki flicked Minato's forehead. "I'm kind of liking this new change."

The Kurosawa girl heard the whole exchange and did not comment. She barely even glanced at the couple the whole time. She was preoccupied by a thought: how could Teuchi be alive after working 24 hours straight? Civilians could barely last a 12-hour shift and even if they did, they would be extremely tired.

' _Except if he's not a civilian.'_

Ayame narrowed her eyes and observed the man as he continuously cooked ramen. Contrary to other's belief, Ichiraku Ramen had many customers. However, by some divine intervention, whenever they decided to eat at the ramen stand there would be no customers.

Teuchi noticed her gaze and directed his attention to the child. For a moment, he thought she was staring intently at him with narrowed eyes but after a blink all he could see was Ayame's innocent look. Smiling at the four-year-old girl with his slit eyes, the man shrugged and continued cooking.

"—Ayame?"

The purple haired child looked at Kushina with confusion. "I was distracted, sorry."

"It's alright. We were talking about how worried I was after I found out you were in hospital." The Uzumaki smiled, her hand combing her hair absent-mindedly.

Ayame furrowed her brows. "You don't need to be so worried, Kushina-san," she replied, dispelling the worries of the smiling woman.

"Well, I think you might not know this," Minato began as he placed his finished bowl on the counter. "Recently, there are cases of children getting abducted. Most of them never return but those did were badly wounded and on the brink of death."

The Hokage tried his best to cover it up but the number of kidnappings was too much to handle without the help of the clan heads. If Minato could give his opinion on the matter, the citizens of the leaf would learn about this case. It would be better if the masses were informed so that could be on guard.

Kushina sighed, her lips forming a straight line. "At first, I thought you were abducted and was hospitalized after returning, 'ttebane." The teen then dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead. "The first  _teme_ I took under my wing would be abducted? No way in  _hell_ , 'ttebane."

The Uzumaki narrowed her eyes and produced a murderous aura, her red-hair floating on the background.

Ayame and Minato's eyes met. Ayame was asking the blond if the Red-hot Habanero was always  _like this_ when hyped up. The Namikaze understood and nodded weakly. The Kurosawa sent the future Yellow Flash a sympathizing look and glanced back at Kushina.

"I will be the Hokage and fight them to death, 'ttebane!" A sudden loud shout full of enthusiasm came from the Red-Hot Habanero.

"Yes, yes." Minato paid the bill and guided Kushina out of the Ichiraku Ramen while nodding.

Ayame wanted to praise the Namikaze for his patience. Taking care of an Uzumaki with shouting tendencies was hard. However, Kushina was not only an Uzumaki — she's an Uzumaki with a bijuu.

* * *

"Please come back at the end of the week, Nara-sama."

"You don't have to use 'sama'. I thought you were calling my father for a moment there."

"Is that so? In that case, I will avoid calling you that." There was shuffling of papers and opening of drawers. "Then see you at the end of the week, Nara-san."

Ayame was leaning in the hallway. It was not her intention to listen to the conversation inside. Nara Shikaku, the heir of the Nara Clan, had replaced his uncle because his cousin was acting so lazy that the instructor raised his concerns. Ayame was surprised to find out that Shikaku's cousin was in her year but realized she never really tried to associate herself with people whenever she was in the academy.

It only took seconds before the Nara appeared outside of the door. The purple-haired girl glanced at the teen and their eyes met.

"Ah, the gaki that Kushina befriended," Shikaku lazily spoke with raised eyebrows.

"Nice to see you too, Nara-san."

Ayame's reply lacked enthusiasm. She still recalled when the dark-haired teen escaped to avoid the cleaning duty after they wrecked Kushina's apartment.

The Nara eyed her and stood straight. "Now that I think about it, I remember my cousin telling me that there were two children skipping grades in the academy."

Ayame knew the dark-haired boy's cousin had not told him anything – it just an excuse. The news of two children in the academy advancing at an incredible rate was a widely known topic, especially for the clans in Konoha. The clans were the first to know, given that each of them had a large network – which was the main reason they could stay peacefully in Konoha without worrying anything.

"I wonder who they are," the Kurosawa wondered out loud as she dusted her clothes.

Shikaku was amused with her antics. "Maybe I'll see the two of them if I visited the Academy enough."

The four-year-old girl smirked behind her mask and showed mirth in her eyes. "Maybe you'll see one of them today."

"Then that would mean that my luck is good."

The purple-haired girl then entered her academy instructor's office without looking back.

The room was quite messy with heaps of papers on the floor and on the table. A man wearing a hitaite glanced her way. Under his blank eyes were dark bags while his cheeks were without color. Ayame needed to take a second look before she completely understood what she was seeing. Her Academy instructor was overworked – an experience she knew all too well.

The man nodded at her and pointed at the empty space in front of him. Following her teacher's instructions, the Kurosawa slowly moved while studying the room.

"I know what you're thinking," the Academy instructor began, "You're not here because your performance was bad."

The four-year-old tilted her head and raised one of her eyebrows. "Then why?"

The man let out an exhausted sigh. "The exact opposite. It's because you're performing  _too_ well. "

These past few days, the Kurosawa name was getting tossed from ear to ear. A kid that was on par with the White Fang's child. No one knew that Sakumo adopted her, given that it was a part of the condition given by the Hokage. However the girl could tell anyone she wanted to.

Ayame was tagged as an orphan with unbelievable talent and her current Academy Instructor had held grudge against her because of the added work. A rumor had started spreading that the four-year-old was a part of an unknown clan from another village – a spy. Added to the fact that the girl's parents refused to interact with civilians, the citizens of Konoha started to berate her.

Scenes flashed in the purple-haired girl's head. In that moment, Ayame understood why she was called and had the urge to bash her head on a wall. The hearsays started to get out of hand and she knew it, but she had not done anything to clear her name.

Who would believe a four-year-old's words anyway?

"Then… what am I here for?"

They could kick her out of the academy if the council was not happy with her. At worst, they would throw her out of the village to calm the people. Ayame would not be angry if that happened. She could find a way to survive while finding the right time to clear her name.

"Don't talk that way gaki. You're making my head hurt." The instructor pinched the bridge of his nose. "The council called your foster parent and told him they want to throw you into the den of wolves."

"I—what?"

"I know. I didn't understand at first either. Apparently, they wanted to make you an ANBU at four-years of age which triggered the White Fang's rage. You should've seen it. It was a  _spectacle,_ " the man replied with awe.

Earlier that morning, he was called to the council meeting. He did not have any idea what the purpose of the gathering was but soon realize it was because of his prodigious student. When the agenda of the assembly was announced, his face was buried in his hands. The conference was needed since the Ayame was the last Kurosawa in Konoha. After hearing it, Hatake Sakumo's gentle face scrunched and his smiling lips turned upside down.

"For the first time in my life, I didn't know that my senior was  _that_ badass," he continued while smirking. "In the end, they changed the agreement. I would not tell you the exact details but from now on, you're out of the academy."

Ayame did not know how to react and could only stare at the man incredulously. "Sorry, but could you repeat that?"


	9. Little things and Concerns

_"Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light."_   
**John Milton**

* * *

Kurenai stared at the ground irritated as her fingers tapped her elbow. She was not really the type to cross her arms since she found the position a bit awkward; however, she could not be bothered by it now. She dimly realized that she was stressing about something she could not change. If only she could  _drag_  the purple-haired Kurosawa outside from where she was hiding and have the honor to bash the girl's head on the wall  _repeatedly_ …

 _That would be satisfying_ , she thought.  _If Ayame does not have the time to bash my head against the wall first._

With a sigh, the red-eyed girl closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose exasperatedly.

"Why are you so stressed? We already asked Kakashi, and he said she's not lost." Genma played with the senbon his mouth. His eye twitched when he felt a part of his gum bleed.

Yūhi Kurenai could not help but snort as she picked up a stone and threw it at him. "Not lost, but I'm sure as hell she's in a predicament she could not handle."

This time, it was Ibiki's turn to smirk. "You sure? Kurosawa's not that  _weak_. We are also concerned about her wellbeing, but Yūhi, you're  _overreacting_."

_How could she not?_

Kurosawa Ayame disappeared for a month, and they could not find any signs of her, even her shadow. The red-eyed girl did not have any idea of what was happening, but it all started when Ayame told her she would be visiting their instructor. The girl wondered if there was any connection with the rumors she heard inside the Academy and Kurosawa's disappearance.

Kurenai wished Ayame had told her where she'd gone so that she wouldn't bother to worry like this. Her friend was a very open person; though you need to understand the way she phrased her words, or you'd misunderstand half of what she's saying most of the time.

"Anyway, where are the others?" The girl gave up and decided she should not waste her time worrying, with a grunt she continued, "I've not seen them for a couple of days, don't tell me they're going into hiding too?" She sarcastically said.

Morino Ibiki silently watched her as she grumbled to herself, he could not help but shook his head slowly. "Kakashi's preparing for his graduation. Asuma and Raidō are also with him, helping him to perfect his jutsus."

That was when everything dawned on Kurenai. Kakashi was about to  _graduate_  and if Ayame did not disappear, she should be graduating with him too. Both of them were geniuses in their own right; Ayame's fast comprehension was astounding while Kakashi's memory was nothing to scoff at. Now that she thought of it, the two's only difference was that the Kurosawa know how she should hold her composure while in distress.

"Adult- _y_?" The now five-year-old girl muttered to herself. "Is that the term I should use?"

There was this particular aura around her friend that she could not really explain. The girl rolled her eyes at her thoughts. Even if Ayame decided to act like another person, there would be no problem since she's her friend and she would stand by her side no matter what.

" _Adulty_  what?"

The red-eyed girl almost fell on where she was standing because of shock and at the same time she smelled a hint of rusty-kind of smell.

"Kurenai, why are you so easy to scare these days?"

Kurenai breathed out a sigh of relief after seeing Asuma behind her. She nearly wanted to piss herself out of fear. Maybe she should stop overthinking. " _None_  of your business, Sarutobi," she said with a hint of redness on her cheeks. "Anyway, how did Kakashi's training go?"

Ibiki decided to stand near them to hear their conversation better and at the same time offered Asuma the dango he was holding. With grateful face, Sarutobi Asuma wiped the sweat from his forehead before thankfully taking the dango. "Well, I could not really call it  _training_. That boy was the same as always, checking if he could do everything perfectly—" he carefully bit the dango before continuing, "—and when I say perfectly, I meant  _literally_ no flaws."

"So… what's the problem then?" Ibiki decided to point out the problem while he sat on the ground and stared at the forest ahead.

"The problem is…" The Sarutobi decidedly inhaled and exhaled in front of them. "He's getting Raidō and I dragged on what he wants to do and  _is_ overdoing it. Do you know when we started training? We started at 5 o'clock in the morning."

"…huh," Genma who was sitting on the ground deadpanned. The boy was sure he was still soundly sleeping at that time, he loved to sleep after all. He crossed his arms while deeply thinking and answered, "You should have told us so that we could join you."

Asuma immediately replied, "No."

Kurenai, Ibiki, and Genma blankly stared at the Sarutobi boy's immediate reply. Although there will still be a long time until they graduate ( _they do not have Kakashi's genius, the three bitterly thought at the same time_ ) they were still the best of their own classes. They're confident that they could join the other's training even though it's against them to wake up that early in the morning.

Asuma knew what they were thinking and all he could do was nervously laugh. "Do not get me wrong. We're not underestimating you—" the boy sighed and spread his hand in front of them, "—it's just… this is not a good time. You know that Kakashi's a little off because of Ayame's disappearance, and despite his father's assurance, it did not really 'assure' him. We all know everything's okay and Ayame would eventually come back but it's affecting him even just a bit."

There was an awkward silence. This became a sensitive topic, not because Kakashi's taking it sensitively but because they were afraid the boy would do something idiotic. They all knew that he was a genius and they acknowledge that. Nevertheless, it was still better to be safe than be sorry.

A long while passed before Genma decided to break the silence. "You mean his aim became off and every time you're talking to him he seemed a little distracted?" He removed the senbon from his mouth before staring at Asuma straight to the eye.

Sarutobi Asuma could only mutter to himself before tiredly replying. "Seems like you've noticed it too."

"Not only him.  _We all did_." Ibiki raised one of his eyebrows. "Well, I don't know if everybody observed but we all acted like something's off."

It was the silver-haired chibi who first noticed Ayame absence. The boy lived with the Kurosawa after all and when the four-year-old girl did not return that night, he immediately told his father. However, out of his expectations, Sakumo only told him that Ayame was ordered to travel outside Konoha to distract her. Kakashi was no idiot and knew it was because the purple-haired girl was kicked out of the academy and his father must have thought that she was devastated.

"Raidō's even getting  _thinner_ , could you believe it? The  _glutton's_  getting  _thin_." Asuma seemed as if he only realized it himself and started grinning widely. Everybody knew how much Raidō eat every day and to make him lose some weight because he was worried? That says something about how he cared for his own ( _forced_ ) personal chef.

"So, back to the topic, Hatake's making both of you train like crazy?" Morino Ibiki slowly drawled out, making sure that none of his words were wrong. He then noticed the red liquid on Asuma's face and stared bemusedly at the coppery traces of blood slowly dripping from the boy's face. "Why is there—"

Kurenai could not keep her mouth to herself any longer and interrupted. "Why the hell is there blood dripping on your freaking face?" The boy was only showing her half of his face but she still managed to see the red liquid covering the space from his left ear to his jaw. Realization hit her; she now knew why she smelled the rusty kind of smell earlier. It was  _Asuma's blood_ all along.

"Ah." The boy calmly raised his hands to touch the side of his face which was injured. "It's because of my carelessness. I was distracted when Kakashi attacked me with a kunai."

" _Attacked_  you?"

"We're trying to test our skills in live combat. It was Kakashi's idea, thought it was good, so I agreed."

Kurenai snorted. "He should've  _injured_  you."

Asuma was flabbergasted. "Are you still angry when I accidentally burned your comb? That was weeks ago!"

"Told you, Asuma. Girls hold grudges over little things," Genma slowly said while he raised the corners of his lips.

"Little things, huh." Kurenai thinned his lips as she slowly drawled. "How is your  _Mom_ , Genma? Did she find out  _who broke her tea set_ two weeks ago?"

Genma slowly blinked before smiling sheepishly.

* * *

Hatake Sakumo was bound to leave that night for another mission that would probably take him days to finish. It was natural since he was a shinobi with a jōnin rank. Their mission, as ANBU, was to go to Kumogakure. They would escort an ambassador to discuss the peace treaty that was signed right after the founding of the shinobi villages. However, the mission this time might prove to be difficult, since he was informed that Kumogakure no Sato detested the Leaf for being " _peace-loving little shits_."

The silver-haired jōnin had to give it to them, they had a weird naming sense. The man could not deny but he was amused, it was hard to find fault in Konoha after all and yet they were still being disliked because they prioritized peace over war.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the man walked into the small room; he did bother to stealthily walk inside and instead he comfortably listened to the echoes of his footsteps. It had been a long time since he had the chance to enter his son's room, he did not want to bother Kakashi ( _in the first place, he did not have the opportunity to inconvenience him since he was not always present inside the house_ ) since from what he knew, growing kids hate nosy parents.

Slumping a little, he stopped in front of a desk and curiously picked up an inconspicuous book. Reading its title, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes then disappeared in an instant. The book was specifically requested by the silver-haired chibi from him when he turned four, and now it was left on the desk gathering dust. Wiping the dust off, he did not react when he heard the door of the room being opened and instead tilted his head before looking at the person right at the door with mirth.

"Kashi-kun, don't you find my gifts valuable anymore?" The older Hatake smiled, his face without its mask.

Kakashi who just arrived, creased his forehead before his gaze landed on the book on his hands. "Tou-san," he lazily greeted. "I became busy these days and forgotten about it, forgive me."

"Shinobi handbook." The jōnin sluggishly spoke as he read the title of the book. "You must have been really busy," he sighed with a fake grievance. "I remember the time when you really wanted this book. You even told me you're willing to abide and remember everything in it."

The four-year-old boy secretly rolled his eyes. His father is teasing him again; he sometimes wondered if his tou-san had taken this as a habit. "The Academy graduation's coming, and I need to focus on passing it," he smoothly replied. "I could not afford to be distracted."

Sakumo raised his eyebrow, of course, it did not escape his eyes that his son effortlessly lied through his teeth. He decided he should let it go since he never really cares about the handbook.  _No one_  really read it nowadays since some of its parts were just for formality. On the other hand, some shinobis strictly follow it and he guessed that there might be some problem in their heads.

 _Saa, it's none of my business anyway_ , he said to himself as he carefully placed the book on his son's desk.

"Anyway tou-san, you'll be leaving today?" Kakashi observed his father wearing his full ANBU attire albeit without his mask. "I thought you'd leave at the start of the week. It's the end of the week already, did something happen?"

The silver-haired jōnin clicked his tongue and replied, "Ah, something came up, but do not be concerned about it." The man smiled as he saw understanding in his son's eyes, he knew his boy understood what he implied.

 _Restricted information_. It was shinobi protocol to never talk about a mission to  _anyone_ , even with the members of the family. The silver-haired jōnin tiredly sighed before patting the shoulder of his son and went out of the room. He should start preparing his things, it had always been a pain in the ass packing bags and sealing them on a scroll.

"Don't forget to clean the house when I'm gone, gaki!" The older Hatake shouted outside the door before he entered his own room.

* * *

Ayame blankly stared at her right arm for a long while before she directed her gaze at the masked man in front of her. The man's gaze flickered before he paid her his full attention.

"Heal yourself."

They had been inside the forest for a month and it had not really been hard per se… if you did not consider experiencing her first kill. Right at that moment, all Ayame wanted to do was to bury her face in her hands. However, with a broken right arm, it seems that for the meantime it was impossible to do so. They were at the boundary of Land of Rivers (川の国,  _Kawa no Kuni_ ) and Land of Fire (火の国,  _Hi no Kuni_ ) and had set up a camp for the night. The group consisted of the mysterious Fox-san, a member of the ANBU, and Nara Shikaku, the heir to the Nara clan.

 _Oh_ , how Ayame wanted to get out of her predicament.

The Kurosawa lazily stared at the ANBU before her. For the girl, healing herself was out of the question. She knew what she could and could not do and even though she had the medical knowledge, she did not have the skills. The girl could only sigh and observe her deformed arm.

"Ah, that's troublesome." A voice appeared behind them. When the girl turned her head, what greeted her was the slouched posture of the Nara.

"Shikaku-san," she greeted the man with a nod as she saw the Nara looked at her with his half-closed eyes.

Ayame wanted to agree with him. After learning that she was to be kicked out of the academy, she was then  _encouraged_  to travel outside of the Konoha. She could not really reject the offer since she felt that not agreeing with them seemed to have  _dire consequences_. The girl returned her gaze to their small campfire. The flames flickered once in a while and it reminded her of lightning.

The Nara lazily sat beside as he eyed her, turning to the masked man opposite of him he said, "Fox-san?"

The man only replied with a grunt as he motioned for the Kurosawa to follow him. Ayame tried her best to maintain her facial expression despite her conflicting emotions. It had been earlier that day when they surprised her about their mission. The girl thought the only thing she needed to do was hunt inside the forest as a sort of " _training_."

Well. That was what they were supposed to do because that was the only thing they were briefed.

The purple-haired girl blinked as she gazed at the petite man walking in front of her. She was no idiot. She already guessed what they came here for. The girl had an inkling but it was not confirmed until they encountered a group of shinobi from Land of Rivers. They were on a mission for an ambush and they brought her—  _not even a genin_  –to a mission for at least chūnin.

_Whatever._

The girl resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Thankfully, she had gotten out of their predicament with only a broken arm and possibly some internal injuries. It was her first real fight and it was exhilarating at that same moment. If she was even a little distracted, it might cost her her life. She killed one of the chūnins using a surprise attack with a chakra scalpel on the gut and injured another one using the same method. However, after seeing that, the other enemies became well-prepared and that resulted in her injured arm.

"I'll heal you here," the ANBU said without much enthusiasm while he glanced at her with the same coldness he did when they first met.

Ayame could not guess who the man was but from what she could gather, he did not display any signs that he is a part of any clan from Konoha. That left her to three possible reasons: he is a foreigner, he is from a civilian background or his parents were both shinobi but did not belong to any clan. It was impossible to find an outsider in the black ops since it was hard to guarantee their loyalty. From what she can see, most Konoha-nin from civilian backgrounds were afraid to enter ANBU, which left her to the only possibility that this guy in front of her have shinobi parents that do not belong to any clan.

The healing process was long and it was not painful— if you do not count the moment when ANBU Fox forcefully aligned her bones. The Kurosawa silently watched as the man slowly reconnected her bones and healed her wound from cell to cell. It fascinated her seeing her own body changing.

A cough distracted her from her line of thought as Ayame slowly lifted her eyes to looked at the masked man. "Tell me what you felt after your first kill," he commanded as if he was just ordering her to fetch a glass of water.

The purple-haired girl blinked as she stared at the man before her amusedly. "Are we supposed to do the standard procedure after the first kill?" She glanced back at her healed arm then slowly raised it to check for abnormalities.

"…yes." The man looked at her for a moment before continuing, "Do you feel that it was against your morals the moment you realized you had killed someone?"

The question was hard for her right off the bat. In her past life, she was raised in a peaceful community, so it perfectly made sense if she was to answer  _no_  to his question. But then, she was currently living in a different place, where child soldiers where nothing to stare at and killing enemy shinobi was the norm. Ayame realized that she was in an awkward position before she sighed.

"I may have struggled against some of my morals, but you do not have to worry, Fox-san. There's nothing in my reaction that was worth noting."

The ANBU stared at her silently for a while before he stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "If you have any problem, you can freely talk to me. There had been some occasional nightmares in my experience and in your case, it should be worse."

"Well, on the positive side, there shouldn't be monsters under my bed since we would be sleeping on the ground." The Kurosawa replied as she smirked.

Fox snorted as his gaze landed on the purple-haired girl. He diverted his gaze before Ayame could notice him looking and walked towards their camp.


End file.
